Inbred transgenic canola line NS-B50027-4 and seeds thereof

ABSTRACT

The present embodiments relate to inbred transgenic canola line NS-B50027-4; seeds and oils obtained from NS-B50027-4; and progeny derived from NS-B50027-4. In particular, NS-B50027-4 is a true-breeding canola line capable of producing at least 5% DHA in its seed oil.

RELATED APPLICATION

This Application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/351,250, filed Jun. 16, 2017, and incorporated fullyherein by reference for all purposes.

SEQUENCE LISTING

The instant application contains a Sequence Listing which has beensubmitted in ASCII format via EFS-Web and is incorporated fully hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present embodiments relate to the field of canola breeding andagricultural products, specifically to the inbred seed and plant ofinbred transgenic canola line designated NS-B50027-4, and derivatives ofsuch inbred plant; and methods of detecting inbred transgenic canolaline NS-B50027-4.

BACKGROUND

Canola is an important oil crop in many areas of the world. The fattyacid composition of canola oil is rich in both mono-unsaturated andpolyunsaturated fatty acids including short chain omega-3, but lacks inlong-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Long chain omega-3 (LC-ω3) fatty acidshave established health benefits, but currently LC-ω3 fatty acids areobtained primarily from algae directly or from algae-eating ocean fish.Recognition of the dietary importance of LC-ω3 fatty acids, especiallydocosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n-3; DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (22:5 n-3;DPA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3; EPA), has contributed to adramatic increase in the demand for consumable fish oil. Thus, there isa need for alternative, direct sources of LC-ω3 fatty acids for humanconsumption. Additionally, because farmed fish, such as Atlantic salmon,accumulate fatty acids in proportion to dietary fatty acids, there is aneed to sustain the amount of LC-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA)in fish feed, and in turn ensure the presence of these fatty acids infarmed fish. Accordingly, there is a need for LC-PUFA-rich sources thatcan be used in aquaculture. For example, there is a need for canola thatcan produce LC-PUFA, particularly LC-ω3 fatty acid such as DHA, for usein aquaculture as well as for direct human consumption. Despiteachievements in plant breeding and manipulation by molecular genetics,however, there are no commercial sources of canola oil that approach thecontent of LC-PUFA produced in wild fishes. Further, a canola cultivar(not an F1 hybrid) should be homogenous, homozygous, and reproducible tobe useful for the reliable production of a commercial crop. Therefore,there remains a need for a canola line that can be grown as asustainable crop, the seeds of which provide commercially viable amountsof ω3 fatty acids, LC-PUFA, and LC-ω3 fatty acids such as DHA.

SUMMARY

The embodiments described herein provide an inbred recombinant canolaline, designated NS-B50027-4, the seeds of which comprise advantageouslevels of ω3 and LC-ω3 fatty acid, thus providing a renewable,land-based system to produce these valuable oils. A representativesample of seeds of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4 was depositedaccording to the Budapest Treaty at the American Type Culture Collection(ATCC®) (Manassas, Va.) on Jun. 9, 2016, and assigned Accession NumberPTA-123186 (see Appendix A). Also described herein are cells, tissues,seeds, and oil of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4. The combination ofselection and breeding with transgenic manipulation enables variation ina species where that variation does not exist. For example, the fattyacid profile of canola line NS-B50027-4 described herein does not existin native plants such as B. napus; and the traits described herein,particularly the advantageous trait of producing DHA, were developedwith significant technical intervention by man.

An aspect of the present embodiments provides seed of canola (Brassicanapus L.) line NS-B50027-4, a genetically modified canola of cultivar AVJade that was selected and bred to a stable, uniform breeding line thataccumulates in its seeds a high proportion (weight percent) of ω3 andLC-ω3 fatty acids, particularly LC-ω3 PUFA such as DHA, relative to thetotal fatty acid content. Inbred line NS-B50027-4 was developed toprovide canola plants that produce seeds comprising LC-ω3 PUFA,particularly DHA, at levels approaching those found in some wild fishoil. Edible oil derived from NS-B50027-4 has significantly higher DHAcontent than other B. napus plants. The novel, uniform breeding lineNS-B50027-4 was developed by initial genetic transformation followed byrigorous selection and breeding for the high DHA trait in a stable,high-yielding, morphologically fit canola line.

Accordingly, at least one embodiment described herein relates to theseeds of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4; to the plants cultivated fromthe seeds of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4, and parts thereof, such aspollen, ovule, or seed; and to methods for producing seed from a canolaplant by cultivating inbred canola line NS-B50027-4, or by crossinginbred canola line NS-B50027-4 with itself or with another canola orBrassica line (such as B. juncea), and obtaining seed from thecultivated progeny. A related embodiment provides seed from a canola orBrassica line derived from NS-B50027-4 by introgression of at least onetransgenic locus of NS-B50027-4.

At least one embodiment provides seed from a population of canola plantsproduced by the method described herein, said population deriving, onaverage, 10% to 100% of its alleles from canola line NS-B50027-4.Similarly, the present embodiments provide use of canola lineNS-B50027-4, a sub-line of NS-B50027-4, progeny of NS-B50027-4 or thesub-line, or a plant produced by crossing NS-B50027-4 with a secondcanola or Brassica plant, for breeding or for cultivating a plant forseed, oil, meal, or protein production.

At least one embodiment provides a seed of an oilseed rape plant, suchas a Brassica napus plant, comprising in its genome at least a portionof the genome of inbred line NS-B50027-4. At least one embodimentprovides a plant, such as a B. napus or B. juncea plant, comprising inits genome at least a portion of the genome of inbred line NS-B50027-4.At least one embodiment provides a cell of an oilseed rape plant, suchas a B. napus or B. juncea plant, comprising in its genome at least aportion of the genome of inbred line NS-B50027-4. Another embodimentprovides genomic DNA of an oilseed rape plant, such as a B. napus or B.juncea plant, comprising at least a portion of the genome, e.g., atleast one transgenic locus, of line NS-B50027-4. At least one embodimentfurther relates to seeds, cells, tissues, tissue cultures, progeny, anddescendants from a plant comprising at least a portion of the genome ofNS-B50027-4 grown from seed deposited at the ATCC® having Accession No.PTA-123186. Another embodiment further provides plants obtainable from(such as by propagation of or breeding with) a canola plant comprisingat least a portion of the genome of NS-B50027-4 (such as a plant grownfrom the seed deposited at the ATCC® having Accession No. PTA-123186).

Reference seed of inbred line NS-B50027-4 of the present embodiments hasbeen deposited with ATCC® under Accession No. PTA-123186. At least oneembodiment provides the seed of NS-B50027-4 deposited as accessionnumber PTA-123186, which grows into a canola plant the seed of which, atconventional harvest, comprises at least about 5% DHA, about 6% DHA,about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10% DHA, about 11% DHA,about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about 15% DHA, 16% DHA,inclusive of amounts in-between and at recited values, or more DHA, asweight percent (wt. %) of the total fatty acids of the seed.

In at least one embodiment, the seed of ATCC® deposit Accession No.PTA-123186 is a seed lot consisting of at least about 95% inbredtransgenic seeds having the transgenes of elite event of NS-B50027-4,that grow into a canola plant the seed of that comprises at least 5%DHA, about 6% DHA, about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10%DHA, about 11% DHA, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about15% DHA, about 16% DHA, inclusive, or more DHA, as wt. % of the totalfatty acids of the seed.

The seed of ATCC® Accession No. PTA-123186 is a seed lot consisting ofabout 95% or more than 95% transgenic seed that is homozygous fortransgene DNA comprising the elite event of NS-B50027-4, and that growinto canola plants the seed of which includes at least about 5% LC-PUFA,about 6% LC-PUFA, about 7% LC-PUFA, about 8% LC-PUFA, about 9% LC-PUFA,about 10% LC-PUFA, about 11% LC-PUFA, about 12% LC-PUFA, about 13%LC-PUFA, about 14% LC-PUFA, about 15% LC-PUFA, about 16% LC-PUFA, about17% LC-PUFA, about 18% LC-PUFA, about 19% LC-PUFA, about 20% LC-PUFA,inclusive, or more LC-PUFA, as the sum of EPA, DPA, and DHA wt. % of thetotal fatty acids of the seed. The seed or seed oil of this line maycontain about 20 wt. % to about 35 wt. % LC-PUFA, inclusive.

In at least one embodiment provides a seed lot of hybrid seed obtainedby crossing a male sterile canola or Brassica line with a second canolaor Brassica line, both of which are homozygous for the elite event ofNS-B50027-4, wherein the hybrid seed comprises at least about 5% DHA,about 6% DHA, about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10% DHA,about 11% DHA, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about 15%DHA, about 16% DHA, about 17% DHA, about 18% DHA, about 19% DHA, about20% DHA, inclusive, or more DHA as wt. % of the total fatty acids of theseed.

An aspect of the present embodiments provides seed or progeny seedobtainable or obtained from the deposited seed cultivated and crossed atleast once with another canola or Brassica (e.g., introgression withanother canola or Brassica plant with the same or a different geneticbackground), which seed can be sown and cultivated, and wherein the seedobtained from such progeny may have substantially the same seed oilphenotype (trait) as that of NS-B50027-4. In some embodiments, therelative proportions of fatty acid content in seed or seed oil of suchprogeny seed are similar to that of NS-B50027-4, but at higher yieldthan NS-B50027-4. In some embodiments, such progeny seed or seed oil maycontain a higher proportion of LC-PUFA, such as EPA, DPA, or DHA, thanin NS-B50027-4 seed. In some embodiments, such progeny seed may containdifferent proportions of non-LC-PUFA such as oleic, linoleic,palmitoleic, vaccenic, or linolenic acids, than contained in NS-B50027-4seed or seed oil. In some embodiments, at conventional harvest the fattyacid content of NS-B50027-4-derived progeny seed comprises at least 5%DHA, about 6% DHA, about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10%DHA, about 11% DHA, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about15% DHA, about 16% DHA, about 17% DHA, about 18% DHA, about 19% DHA,about 20% DHA, about 21% DHA, about 22% DHA, about 23% DHA, about 24%DHA, about 25% DHA, about 26%, about 27% DHA, about 28% DHA, about 29%DHA, about 30% DHA, inclusive, or more DHA, as wt. % of the total fattyacids of the seed. For example, seed of such progeny may comprisebetween 20% to 35% DHA, inclusive, as wt. % of total fatty acids of theseed. In some embodiments, at conventional harvest the fatty acidcontent of such NS-B50027-4-derived progeny seed comprises at leastabout 5% LC-PUFA, about 6% LC-PUFA, about 7% LC-PUFA, about 8% LC-PUFA,about 9% LC-PUFA, about 10% LC-PUFA, at about 11% LC-PUFA, about 12%LC-PUFA, about 13% LC-PUFA, about 14% LC-PUFA, about 15% LC-UFA, about16% LC-PUFA, about 17% LC-PUFA, about 18% LC-PUFA, about 19% LC-PUFA,about 20% LC-PUFA, about 21% LC-PUFA, about 22% LC-PUFA, about 23%LC-PUFA, about 24% LC-PUFA, about 25% LC-PUFA, inclusive, or moreLC-PUFA, as the sum of EPA, DPA, and DHA wt. % of the total fatty acidsof the seed. For example, seed of such progeny may comprise about 20% toabout 40% LC-PUFA (wt. % total fatty acids), inclusive.

In at least one embodiment, the seed of NS-B50027-4 comprisessubstantially more ω3 ALA than conventional canola varieties. Forexample, at conventional harvest the fatty acid content of NS-B50027-4,or its progeny, seed comprises at least about 15% ALA, about 15% ALA,about 17% ALA, about 18% ALA, about 19% ALA, about 20% ALA, about 21%ALA, about 22% ALA, about 23% ALA, about 24% ALA, about 25% ALA, about26% ALA, inclusive, or more ALA as wt. % of the total fatty acids of theseed.

Another aspect of the present embodiments provides oil with advantageousω3 fatty acid and LC-ω3 fatty acid levels, in which the fatty acidcontent contains a higher ratio of ω3:ω6 fatty acid than that of regularcommercial canola oil. For example, in one embodiment a seed oil fromNS-B50027-4 has an EPA/DPA/DHA(ω3):LA(ω6) ratio of about 1.25. Bycomparison, seed oil from AV Jade (which contains no EPA/DPA/DHA) has aratio of ω3:ω6 of about 0.5. Further, oil from the parent line AV Jadehas no DHA, therefore no DHA:LA ratio; while an example oil fromNS-B50027-4 has a DHA:LA ratio of about 1.05; compared with oil fromfarm-raised salmon which has a DHA:LA ratio of about 0.908. The ratiosof ω3 fatty acids from NS-B50027-4 are particularly advantageousregarding palmitic acid. More specifically, oil from the parent line AVJade has no DHA, and thus no DHA:palmitate ratio; in contrast, anexample oil from NS-B50027-4 has a DHA:palmitate ratio of about 2.12;comparatively, oil from farm-raised salmon has a DHA:palmitate ratio ofabout 0.59, and oil from wild salmon has a DHA:palmitate ratio of about1.02. In at least one embodiment, the ratio of ω3:ω6 fatty acid in seedoil of NS-B50027-4 is about 3 to about 7, inclusive, such as a ω3:ω6fatty acid ratio of about 3, about 3.5, about 4, about 4.5, about 5,about 5.5, about 6, about 6.5, or about 7. Progeny, hybrid, plantsderived by introgression hybridization, and other such plants derivedfrom NS-B50027-4 have similar or advantageous ω3:ω6 ratios.

In another aspect of the present embodiments, oil, lipid, ω3-FA,LC-PUFA, or DHA from seed of inbred line NS-B50027-4, or progeny derivedtherefrom, is used as or in a foodstuff (food or edible materialincluding beverages) or as nutritional supplements (food additives) forhumans or animals. In at least one embodiment, oil, lipid, ω3-FA,LC-PUFA, or DHA from event NS-B50027-4 seed is used to supplement feedor feed additives for use in aquaculture. In at least one embodiment,oil, lipid, ω3-FA, LC-PUFA, or DHA from inbred line NS-B50027-4 seed isused as or in a pharmaceutical composition. In other embodiments, suchoil, lipid, ω3-FA, LC-PUFA, ω3 LC-PUFA, or DHA are obtained from linesbred from NS-B50027-4.

In another aspect of the present embodiments, meal or protein derivedfrom seed meal obtained from seed of inbred line NS-B50027-4, or progenyderived therefrom, is used as or in a foodstuff (food or ediblematerial) or as nutritional supplements (food additives) for humans oranimals. In at least one embodiment, meal processed from the seed ofNS-B50027-4, or progeny derived therefrom, is used to supplement feed orfeed additives for use in aquaculture. In at least one embodiment,protein processed from the seed of NS-B50027-4, or progeny derivedtherefrom, is used to supplement feed or feed additives for use inaquaculture.

An aspect of the present embodiments provides a method of increasing theLC-PUFA in a plant by providing (e.g., by genetic transformation orbreeding) the plant with multiple copies of genetic constructsexpressing some “front end” enzymes of the LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway.For example, although not all of the enzymes Δ6-desaturases,Δ5-desaturases, Δ5-elongases, and ω3/Δ15-desaturases may be consideredexclusively as the front end desaturases or elongases, in particularembodiments these genes are assembled into an artificial locus thatenhances the production of LC-PUFA, such as EPA, DPA, or DHA, in atransgenic plant that expresses other genes required for synthesis ofLC-PUFA. In particular embodiments, the artificial locus comprising somefront end genes includes at least one of Micromonas pusilla-derivedΔ6-desaturase, Pyramimonas cordata-derived Δ5-elongase, Pavlovasalina-derived Δ5-desaturase, or Pichia pastoris-derivedΔ15/ω3-desaturase. In particular embodiments, the artificial locuscomprising some front end genes of a LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathwaycomprises Micromonas pusilla-derived Δ6-desaturase, Pyramimonascordata-derived Δ5-elongase, Pavlova salina-derived Δ5-desaturase, andPichia pastoris-derived Δ15/ω3-desaturase. In a particular embodiment,this four-gene transgenic insert is segregated from NS-B50027-4 (e.g.,by outcrossing the A02 chromosome) and introduced into a recipient plantline using standard plant breeding techniques.

An aspect of the described embodiments provides a new canola breedingline, designated NS-B50027-4, and an oilseed rape plant, such asBrassica napus ., or B. juncea, comprising in its nuclear genome theelite event of NS-B50027-4. Canola plants comprising the genetic eventof line NS-B50027-4 are capable of seed-specific production of fattyacids that contain more LC-PUFA than the fatty acids produced inconventional canola plants. Inbred canola line NS-B50027-4 plantsexhibit other agronomic performance traits that are substantiallyequivalent to non-transgenic isogenic canola plant lines; but suchtraits are distinct from other lines as to provide an independent lineor cultivar designated NS-B50027-4. A representative sample of inbredcanola line NS-B50027-4 seeds has been deposited at the ATCC® andassigned Accession No. PTA-123186.

At least one embodiment relates to a transgenic canola seeds, plants orplant parts, tissues or cells thereof, having stably integrated into thegenome at least one transgenic insert comprising an expression cassettecomprising sixteen heterologous genes, the transgenes beingcodon-optimized for plant expression and encoding Pavlova salina-derivedΔ4-desaturase, Pavlova salina-derived Δ5-desaturase, Pyramimonascordata-derived Δ5-elongase, Micromonas pusilla-derived Δ6-desaturase,Pyramimonas cordata-derived Δ6-elongase, Lachancea kluyveri-derivedΔ12-desaturase, Pichia pastoris-derived Δ15/ω3-desaturase, and at leastone Nicotiana tabacum-derived matrix attachment region (MAR), and aselectable marker gene; and at least one transgenic insert comprising anexpression cassette four heterologous genes, the transgenes beingcodon-optimized for plant expression and encoding Micromonaspusilla-derived Δ6-desaturase, Pyramimonas cordata-derived Δ5-elongase,Pavlova salina-derived Δ5-desaturase, Pichia pastoris-derivedΔ15/ω3-desaturase transgenes, and a least one Nicotiana tabacum-derivedMAR. Inbred transgenic line NS-B50027-4 exemplifies this embodiment, anda representative sample of seeds with these heterologous genes has beendeposited at the ATCC®, accession number PTA-123186.

Additionally, an aspect of the present embodiments provides methods foridentifying a transgenic plant, or cells or tissues thereof, comprisingthe transgenic feature (elite event) of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4,which method is based on identifying the presence of characterizing DNAmolecules as having particular nucleotide sequences or encodingparticular amino acids. For example, such characterizing DNA moleculescomprise sequences of at least 15 bp, at least 20 bp, at least 30 bp,inclusive, that comprise the insertion site or junction of the event,i.e., both a part of the inserted foreign DNA comprising LC-ω3 fattyacid synthesis genes and a part of the canola genome (either the 5′ or3′ flanking regions for each insertion) contiguous therewith, allowingspecific identification of NS-B50027-4. As another example of thisaspect, a set of primers for identification of a number of transgenesand flanking regions can be used in a method of identifying NS-B50027-4.The embodiments also relate to plants identified by the methodsdescribed herein.

Some embodiments provide compositions useful in kompetitive allelespecific PCR (KASP) assays (in which two allele-specific forward primersrecognize SNP), droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays, quantitative PCR(qPCR) assays, paralog-specific assays, and assays for adventitiouspresence (AP) testing. Specific embodiments of primers useful forconducting KASP assays to detect NS-B50027-4 genetic traits,particularly useful in introgression studies and hybrid development,include primers depicted in SEQ ID NO:1 to SEQ ID NO:90, or complementsthereof. At least some of these primers or their complements can beincluded in a kit for the identification of NS-B50027-4, progeny ofNS-B50027-4, or other plants or plant materials comprising at least apartial genome of NS-B50027-4.

A related aspect provides genomic DNA obtained or derived from plants,comprising at least part of the genomic DNA of line NS-B50027-4,particularly regions of the genome incorporating transgenes or junctionsthereof. Such genomic DNA may be used, for example, as reference controlmaterial in the identification assays herein described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a scheme showing the enzymes that have been introduced intotransgenic plants to provide the biosynthetic pathway for synthesis ofDHA.

FIG. 2 is a graph of grain yield plotted against predicted DHA, inkg/ha, across eight cultivation sites. ♦ is DHA Kg/ha;—is linear DHAKg/ha; y=29.296x+2.8315; R²=0.8567.

FIG. 3 depicts grain yield graphed against predicted LC-PUFA (EPA, DPA,and DHA) in kg/ha, across eight sites. ♦ is LC-PUFA Kg/ha;—is linearLC-PUFA Kg/ha; y=34.043x+3.4049; R²=0.8636.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting possible processing and productstreams from harvested transgenic canola seed that contains ω3 fattyacids. Rounded-edged rectangles indicate products or process fractions;ovals indicate processing steps; sharp-cornered rectangles indicatepossible product usage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood that this invention is not limited to theparticular methodology, protocols, and reagents, etc., described hereinand as such may vary. The terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit thescope of the present invention, which is defined solely by the claims.

All patents and other publications identified are incorporated herein byreference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, themethodologies described in such publications that might be used inconnection with the present invention, but are not to providedefinitions of terms inconsistent with those presented herein. Thesepublications are provided solely for their disclosure prior to thefiling date of the present application. Nothing in this regard should beconstrued as an admission that the inventors are not entitled toantedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention or for any otherreason. All statements as to the date or representation as to thecontents of these documents is based on information available to theapplicants and do not constitute any admission as to the correctness ofthe dates or contents of these documents.

As used herein and in the claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and“the” include the plural reference unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Throughout this specification, unless otherwise indicated,“comprise,” “comprises” and “comprising” are used inclusively ratherthan exclusively, so that a stated integer or group of integers mayinclude one or more other non-stated integers or groups of integers. Theterm “or” is inclusive unless modified, for example, by “either.” Thus,unless context indicates otherwise, the word “or” means any one memberof a particular list and also includes any combination of members ofthat list.

All values are approximate as there is some fluctuation in fatty acidcomposition due to environmental conditions. Values are typicallyexpressed as percent by weight of total fatty acid, or percent weight ofthe total seed. Accordingly, other than in the operating examples, orwhere otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities or reactionconditions used herein should be understood as modified in all instancesby the term “about” unless stated to the contrary; “about” refersgenerally to ±1% of the designated value, but may allow for ±5% or ±10%of the designated value as accepted in the relevant context by one ofskill in the art.

Recombinant DNA techniques can be carried out according to standardprotocols as known in the art. See, e.g., Sambrook et al., MOLECULARCLONING: LAB. MANUAL (2nd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Press, N.Y.(1989); Ausubel et al., CURRENT PROTOCOLS MOLEC. BIOL. (1994 andupdates); DNA CLONING: PRACTICAL APPROACH, Vols. 1-4 (Glover & Hames,Eds., IRL Press 1995, 1996), Croy, PLANT MOLEC. BIOL. LABFAX (BIOS Sci.Pub. Ltd. & Blackwell Sci. Pub., UK, 1993); WO 2015089587.

Headings are provided for convenience only and are not to be construedto limit the invention in any way. Unless defined otherwise, alltechnical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning asthose commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art. Theterminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention, which is defined solely by the claims. In order that thepresent disclosure can be more readily understood, certain terms arefirst defined. Additional definitions are set forth throughout thedetailed description.

Definitions

A “line” is a group of plants that displays very little overallvariation among individuals sharing that designation. “Line” also refersto a homogeneous assemblage of plants carrying substantially the samegenetic material that display little or no genetic variation betweenindividuals for at least one trait. “Variety” or “cultivar” may be usedinterchangeably with “line,” but in general the former two terms referto a line that is suitable for commercial production. “Geneticallyderived” as used for example in the phrase “genetically derived from theparent lines” means that the characteristic in question is dictatedwholly or in part by an aspect of the genetic makeup of the plant inquestion.

“Brassica” plant as used herein refers to plants of the family of theBrassicaceae. The Brassica plant may belong to one of the speciesBrassica napus, B. rapa (or campestris), or B. juncea. Alternatively,the plant can belong to a species originating from intercrossing ofthese Brassica species, such as B. napocampestris, or of an artificialcrossing of one of these Brassica species with another species of theCruciferacea. Ploidy refers to whether the number of chromosomesexhibited by a cultivar is diploid or tetraploid. Because Brassica napusis an allotetraploid (amphidiploid) arising from the cross and retentionof both genomes of Brassica rapa (previously B. campestris) and B.oleracea, a Brassica napus plant comprising transgenic event NS-B50027-4may be used with various or conventional breeding methods to introducethe NS-B50027-4 event, and thus the “trait” of producing LC-ω3 fattyacids or increasing expression of LC-ω3 fatty acids, as describedherein, into other members of the Brassica genus. Accordingly, examplesof members of the Brassica genus useful in practicing the presentembodiments include but are not limited to B. juncea, B. napobrassica,B. oleracea, B. carinata, B. napus, B. rapa, and B. campestris, as wellas any other plants belonging to the genus Brassica that permit breedingbetween Brassica species. Generally, “oilseed plant” refers to any oneof the species B. napus, B. rapa (or campestris), or B. juncea.

Brassica napus is commonly known as rapeseed or oilseed rape andspecific cultivars may be referred to as canola. As used herein, theterm “canola” or “canola plant” refers to a Brassica plant capable ofbeing used to produce canola oil (i.e., an oil meeting a specificquality designation of containing less than 2% erucic acid) and includesvarieties of B. napus, B. napobrassica, B. rapa, B. juncea, and B.campestris. Canola plants are amphidiploid (also called anallotetraploid), which refers to an interspecific hybrid having acomplete diploid chromosome set from each parent form, typically denotedwith genome AACC.

“Canola” and “canola plant” typically refers to Brassica napus, butincludes all plant varieties that can be bred with canola. “Canola” and“canola plant” also includes plant parts. “Canola oil” must contain lessthan 2% erucic acid (Δ13-22:1), and less than 30 μmoles ofglucosinolates/g air-dry, oil-free solid canola seed (i.e., meal). See,e.g., CODEX ALIMENTARIUS: FATS, OILS & RELATED PRODUCTS, VOL. 8 (2nded., Food & Agriculture Org. United Nations, Rome, Italy, 2001).

“Plant part” includes plant cells, plant organs, plant protoplasts,plant cell tissue cultures from which plants can be regenerated, plantcalli, plant clumps, and plant cells that are intact in plants or partsof plants such as embryos, pollen, ovules, seeds, pods, leaves, flowers,branches, fruit, stalks, roots, root tips, anthers, cotyledons,hypocotyls, radicles, single cells, gametes, cell cultures, tissuecultures, and the like. A cotyledon is a type of seed leaf; a small leafcontained on a plant embryo. A cotyledon contains the food storagetissues of the seed. The embryo is a small plant contained within amature seed. “Plant cells” also encompasses non-regenerable plant cells.Progeny, derivatives, variants, and mutants of regenerated plants arealso included within the scope of the present embodiments, provided thatthese parts comprise at least some event NS-B50027-4 nucleic acidmolecules, typically one or two of two loci of the elite event ofNS-B50027-4. The present embodiments are also directed to the use ofelite event NS-B50027-4 transgenes in plant cell culture and tissueculture. The embodiments include plants and plant parts from the eliteevent NS-B50027-4 line, as well as other plants produced by thedescribed methods that add to the genetic make-up of NS-B50027-4 orprogeny that comprise at least one of two transgenic loci ofNS-B50027-4.

An “allele” is an alternative form of a gene that relates to one traitor characteristic. In a diploid cell or organism, the two alleles of agiven gene occupy corresponding loci on a pair of homologouschromosomes.

A “locus” confers one or more traits such as, for example, modifiedfatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism, male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, disease resistance, or modified protein metabolism. Thetrait may be, for example, conferred by a naturally occurring geneintroduced into the genome of the line by backcrossing, a natural orinduced mutation, or a transgene introduced through genetictransformation techniques. A locus may comprise one or more allelesintegrated at a single chromosomal location. “Quantitative trait loci”(QTL) refers to a section of DNA (the locus) that correlates withvariation in a phenotype (the quantitative trait). QTL are often linkedto, or contain, the genes that control that phenotype. QTL are mapped byidentifying which molecular markers (such as SNP or AFLP) correlate withan observed trait.

“Percent identity” refers to the comparison of the homozygous alleles oftwo canola or Brassica varieties. Percent identity is determined bycomparing a statistically significant number of the homozygous allelesof two developed varieties. For example, a percent identity of 90%between NS-B50027-4 and a second Brassica means that the two Brassicahave the same alleles at 90% of their loci. With regard to a defined DNAmolecule or protein, the % identity the minimum % identity of anidentified sequence (SEQ ID NO) comprises a nucleotide sequence that isat least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 76%, atleast 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, atleast 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, atleast 98%, at least 99%, at least 99.1%, at least 99.2%, at least 99.3%,at least 99.4%, at least 99.5%, at least 99.6%, at least 99.7%, at least99.8%, or at least 99.9% identical, inclusive, to the relevant nominatedsequence designated by SEQ ID NO.

Degeneracy of the genetic code allows for a greater range of % identityfor polynucleotide sequences than may be typically acceptable forproteins because of the myriad of nucleotide combinations that canencode a given protein. Moreover, amino acid substitution allows formany immaterial changes in protein's primary amino acid structure, e.g.,amino acid substitutions that do not disrupt enzymatic function.Additionally, polynucleotides may possess, when compared to naturallyoccurring molecules, one or more mutations that are deletions,insertions, or substitutions of nucleotide residues. Polynucleotidesthat have mutations relative to a reference sequence can be eithernaturally occurring (that is to say, isolated from a natural source) orsynthetic (e.g., by performing site-directed mutagenesis or DNAshuffling).

Generally, an “event” is an artificial genetic locus that, as a resultof genetic manipulation, carries a foreign DNA comprising a gene orgenes of interest (transgene(s)). The typical allelic states of an eventare the presence or absence of the foreign DNA. An event may becharacterized phenotypically by the expression of one or moretransgenes. At the genetic level, an event is part of the genetic makeupof a plant. At the molecular level, an event may be characterized byrestriction map, by the upstream or downstream flanking sequences of thetransgene(s), or the molecular configuration of the transgene(s).Usually, transformation of plant cells or plant parts with atransforming DNA leads to a multitude of events, each of which isunique.

The term “gene” refers to a DNA molecule typically comprising severaloperably linked DNA regions, such as a promoter and a 5′ untranslatedregion (5′UTR or 5′ noncoding sequences) which together form thepromoter region; a coding region (which may or may not encode aprotein); and an untranslated 3′ region (3′UTR or 3′ noncodingsequences) comprising a polyadenylation site. Typically, in plant cellsthe 5′UTR, coding, and 3′UTR regions are transcribed into an RNAmolecule which, in the case of a protein-encoding gene, is translatedinto protein. “Coding sequence” thus refers to the sequence ofnucleotides in a DNA molecule providing codons that translate (viamessenger RNA, ribosomal, and associated translation apparatus) aspecific sequence of amino acids. A gene may include additional DNAregions such as, for example, introns. “Genotype” refers to the geneticconstitution of a cell or organism. A “genetic locus” is generally theposition of a given gene or set of genes in the genome of a plant.

The term “transgene” refers to a gene of interest as incorporated in thegenome of a plant. Accordingly, a “transgenic plant” comprises at leastone transgene in the genome of all of its cells. The transgenes of thepresent embodiments comprise at least one copy of the following enzymesexpressed in the biosynthesis of LC-PUFA in line NS-B50027-4:Δ4-desaturase derived from the marine microalga Pavlova salina,Δ5-desaturase derived from P. salina, Δ5-elongase derived from the microalga Pyramimonas cordata, Δ6-desaturase derived from the micro algaMicromonas pusilla, Δ6-elongase derived from P. cordata, Δ12-desaturasefrom the yeast Lachancea kluyveri, and Δ15/ω3-desaturase derived fromthe yeast Pichia pastoris. Alternatively or additionally, the transgenesof the present embodiments comprise Δ5-desaturase derived from P.salina, Δ5-elongase derived from P. cordata, Δ6-desaturase derived fromM. pusilla, and Δ15/ω3-desaturase derived from P. pastoris. Thetransgenes of NS-B50027-4 are arranged in a binary fashion in expressioncassettes that include the appropriate regulatory regions. Thetransgenes of NS-B50027-4 described above are artificial in that theywere designed using codon optimization strategy, and thus the transgenesdo not otherwise exist in nature. The transgenic expression cassetteincluded at least one matrix attachment region (MAR) from Nicotianatabacum. The transgenic cassette also included a selectable marker gene.See, e.g., WO 2013185184; US 2015/0166928; PCT/US2017/38047, filed Jun.16, 2017, which claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 62/351,246.

“Foreign” or “heterologous” when referring to a gene or a DNA moleculewith respect to a plant species, indicates that the gene or DNAmolecule, or a portion thereof (e.g., a particular region), is notnaturally found in that plant species, or is not naturally found in thatgenetic locus in that plant species. The term “foreign DNA” also refersto a DNA molecule that will or has been incorporated into the genome ofa plant as a result of transformation. In the context of thisdisclosure, a transgene, transgenic cassette, or transgenic expressioncassette comprises at least one foreign or heterologous DNA.

The term “chimeric” when referring to a gene or DNA molecule is used toindicate that the gene or DNA molecule comprises at least twofunctionally relevant DNA regions (such as promoter, 5′UTR, codingregion, 3′UTR, intron) that are not naturally associated with eachother, and originate from different sources such that at least one DNAregion is foreign to another DNA region in the chimeric DNA molecule.

The terms “plasmid” or “vector” refer to an extra chromosomal elementoften carrying genes that are not part of the central metabolism of thecell, and usually in the form of circular double-stranded DNA molecules.Such elements may be autonomously replicating sequences, genomeintegrating sequences, phage or nucleotide sequences, linear orcircular, of a single- or double-stranded DNA or RNA, derived from anysource, in which a number of nucleotides have been joined or recombinedinto a unique construct that is capable of introducing, for example, anexpression cassette into a cell. In relation to transgenic plants, suchplasmids or vectors may contain regions of T-DNA that facilitateinsertion of transgene(s) into the plant genome.

“Expression cassette” refers to a genetic construct containing atransgene and having elements in addition to the foreign gene that allowfor expression of that gene in a foreign host (e.g., a 5′ promoter(optionally with an enhancer) untranslated (“UTR”) DNA, DNA encoding aselected gene product, and appropriate 3′ UTR DNA); and may refer to thecassette before and after insertion into the genome of the plant. Inother words, a transgenic insert comprises an expression cassette.Accordingly, “insert DNA” refers to a heterologous DNA introduced toplant material via the transformation process, and includes DNA (thatdiffers from the original/wild-type/native) DNA used for suchtransformation as explained herein. Insert DNA is typically a transgenicexpression cassette.

The “transforming DNA” refers to a recombinant DNA molecule used fortransformation, e.g., an expression vector. The transforming DNA usuallycomprises at least one “gene of interest” (e.g., a chimeric gene) thatis capable of conferring one or more specific characteristics to thetransformed plant.

“Transformation” refers to the transfer of a nucleic acid molecule intoa host organism, resulting in genetically stable inheritance. Thenucleic acid molecule may be a plasmid that replicates autonomously, forexample, or, it may integrate into the genome of the host organism. Hostorganisms containing the transformed nucleic acid fragments are referredto as “transgenic” or “recombinant” or “transformed” organisms.

The term “recombinant DNA molecule” is used to exemplify and thus caninclude an isolated nucleic acid molecule that can be DNA and that canbe obtained through recombinant or other procedures such as syntheticDNA synthesis or PCR. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a reaction inwhich replicate copies of a target polynucleotide are made using primersconsisting of “upstream” and a “downstream” primer, and a catalyst ofpolymerization, such as a DNA polymerase, and typically athermally-stable polymerase enzyme. Methods for PCR are known in theart. See, e.g., PCR (McPherson & Moller, eds., BIOS Sci. Publ. Ltd.,Oxford, 2000). PCR can be performed on genomic DNA or cDNA.

“Suitable regulatory elements” or “suitable regulatory sequences” referto polynucleotides located upstream (e.g., 5′UTR), within, or downstream(3′UTR) of a coding region, that influence the transcription, RNAprocessing or stability, or translation of the associated coding region.Regulatory elements may include promoters, enhancer elements,translation leader sequences, introns, polyadenylation recognitionsequences, RNA processing sites, effector binding sites, and stem-loopstructures.

“Promoter” refers to a DNA element capable of controlling the expressionof a coding region or functional RNA. In general, a coding region islocated 3′ to a promoter element. Promoters may be derived in theirentirety from a native gene, or be composed of different elementsderived from different promoters found in nature, or even comprisesynthetic DNA segments. It is understood by those skilled in the artthat different promoters may direct the expression of a gene indifferent tissues or cell types, or at different stages of development,or in response to different environmental or physiological conditions.Promoters that cause a gene to be expressed in most cell types at mosttimes are commonly referred to as “constitutive promoters.” It isfurther recognized that because, in most cases, the exact boundaries ofregulatory elements have not been completely defined, DNA fragments ofdifferent lengths may have identical promoter activity.

The terms “3′ non-coding sequences” and “transcription terminator” or3′UTR refer to DNA elements located downstream of the coding region ofthe DNA molecule. This includes polyadenylation recognition sequencesand other sequences encoding regulatory signals capable of affectingmRNA processing or gene expression. The polyadenylation signal isusually characterized by affecting the addition of polyadenylic acidtracts to the 3′ end of the mRNA precursor. The 3′ region can influencethe transcription, RNA processing or stability, or translation of theassociated coding region.

“Operably linked” refers to the association of nucleic acid elements ona single nucleic acid molecule or portion thereof so that the functionof one element is affected by the other. For example, a promoter isoperably linked with a coding region when it is capable of affecting theexpression of that coding region (i.e., the coding region is under thetranscriptional control of the promoter). Coding regions can be operablylinked to regulatory elements in sense or antisense orientation.

“Mutagenesis” is a process in which an agent, such as ethylmethylsulfonate, known to cause mutations in genetic material is appliedto plant material for the purpose of causing new genetic variability ina species, and is usually done with a specific trait in mind. SeeSwanson et al., 7 Plant Cell Rep. 83 (1988). Other techniques includegeneration of mutants directed at specific nucleotide or amino acidchanges (substitutions, deletions, or additions). Such methods ofintroducing nucleic acid sequence changes are included by the term“mutagenesis.” Mutagenesis can be useful in “knockout” experiments todisrupt genetic expression.

“Primers” are relatively short polynucleotides or oligonucleotides thatare complementary to a portion of a polynucleotide to be amplified, forexample, by polymerase chain reaction. Typically, a primer is no morethan 50 nucleotides long, such as less than about 30 nucleotides long,or less than about 24 nucleotides long.

“Expression,” as used herein, refers to the transcription and stableaccumulation of sense (mRNA) derived from the nucleic acids of theinvention. Expression may also refer to translation of mRNA into apolypeptide.

Reference to a cell includes a plant cell, whether isolated, in tissueculture, or incorporated in a plant or plant part, unless otherwisestated or clear from context.

“Regeneration” involves the selection of cells capable of regeneration(e.g., seeds, microspores, ovules, pollen, vegetative parts) from aselected plant or variety. These cells may optionally be subjected togenetic transformation or mutagenesis, following which a plant isdeveloped from the cells using regeneration, fertilization, or growingtechniques based on the type of genetically modified cells. Applicableregeneration techniques are known to those skilled in the art; see,e.g., Armstrong & Green, 165 Planta 322 (1985); Close & Ludeman, 52Planta Sci. 81 (1987).

“Progeny” means all descendants including offspring and derivatives of aplant or plants and includes the first, second, third, and subsequentgenerations; and may be produced by self-pollination or crossing withplants with the same or different genotypes, and may be modified by arange of suitable genetic engineering techniques. Cultigen generallyrelates to plants that have been deliberately altered and selected byhuman. “T0” refers to the first generation of transformed plantmaterial, “T1” refers to the seed produced on T0 plants, T1 seed givesrise to plants that produce T2 seed, etc., to subsequent Tx progeny.

“Breeding” includes all methods of developing or propagating plants andincludes both intra- and inter-species and intra- and inter-line crossesas well as all suitable conventional breeding and artificial breedingtechniques. Desired traits (e.g., NS-B50027-4 DHA trait) may betransferred to other canola or B. napus lines, cultivars, or cultigens;or through conventional breeding methods and can also be transferred toother Brassica species, such as B. juncea and B. rapa throughinter-specific crossing. Both conventional breeding methods andinter-specific crossing methods, as well as other methods oftransferring genetic material between plants, are well-known in the art.

“Backcrossing” is a process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny back to a parental line. For example, crossing a firstgeneration hybrid F1 with one of the parental genotypes of the F1 hybridis backcrossing. Backcrossing can be used to introduce a trait ofinterest from a donor parent (a transgenic parent) into a recurrentparent (an elite line to be modified): the donor parent is crossed tothe recurrent parent; the progeny of this cross is then backcrossed tothe recurrent parent; the progeny of these crosses are selected for thetrait of interest and then crossed back to the recurrent parent; thisprocess is repeated for as many backcrosses as are needed to create aline in which the recurrent parent is homozygous for the trait from thedonor parent. Backcrossing can also be combined with selfing, which canbe advantageous when introducing recessive genes.

“Introgression” is the stable incorporation of genes from one gene poolinto another. “Introgressive hybridization” refers to the incorporation(usually via hybridization and backcrossing) of alleles from one entityinto the gene pool of a second, different entity. Introgression linesallow the study of quantitative trait loci, and also provide a means ofintroducing new traits, i.e., NS-B50027-4 traits, into other canola orBrassica, such as B. napus or B. juncea. Recipient lines of interestinclude open-pollinated (OP) herbicide tolerant lines, such as triazinetolerant (TT); Roundup Ready® (RR); stacked TT and RR; imidazolinone(IMI) tolerant OP lines; or IMI restorer (Rf) lines; high percent seedoil lines; optimal background for DHA lines; or lines selected forregional adaptation. Such lines can be developed as hybrids or eliteevents. Because existing isogenic canola lines exhibit seed oilpotential of 45%, introgression of NS-B50027-4 loci may generate seedoil containing 20% DHA in bulk yield in such stacked events. Furtherbreeding event stacks may be selected for production of EPA or DPA.Indeed, NS-B50027-4 genes (either one or both loci) can be stacked withother transgenic Brassica that contain at least one seven- or eight-geneinsert (i.e., seven enzymes and, optionally, a marker), viatransformation with the same vector or a similar vector used to generateNS-B50027-4, resulting in, for example, a plant with three loci thatprovides for production of LC-PUFA. Alternatively, as described furtherherein, the A02 and A05 loci can be segregated from NS-B50027-4, and theA02 locus stacked in other LC-PUFA producing lines (e.g., a line with asingle insert for production of EPA, DPA, or DHA) to increase LC-PUFAproduction.

“Disease resistance” is generally the ability of a plant to restrict theactivities of a specified pest, such as an insect, fungus, virus, orbacterium. “Disease tolerance” is the ability of plants to endure adisorder caused by a specified pest (such as an insect, fungus, virus,or bacterium), or an adverse environmental condition, yet still performand produce in spite of this disorder.

“Fatty acid composition” or “fatty acid content” generally refer topercentages by weight of various fatty acids present in the endogenouslyformed oil of the mature, whole, partially dried seeds. The commonindustry practice is to report fatty acid composition as area percentage(area normalized), rather than absolute weight percentage, but theformer approximates the latter. Absolute results can be calculated usingindividual reference standards of known concentration and an internalstandard to calculate results on a mg/kg basis. It is also possible touse correction factors to calculate masses of fatty acids without theuse of individual fatty acid standards, although an internal standardmay still be needed. Commonly, fatty acid content is determined bycrushing seed and extracting fatty acids as fatty acid methyl esters(FAME), which can be analyzed for fatty acid content by a variety oftechniques that generate data as area percent or from which area percentcan be derived. Example analytical approaches include gas chromatography(GC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-massspectrometry (LC-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), or near infraredreflectance spectroscopy. Total lipid may be separated by techniquesknown in the art to purify fractions, for example, such as the TAGfraction. Other methods of characterizing fatty acid compositions areknown to those skilled in the art. See, e.g., CANOLA: CHEM., PRODUCTION,PROCESSING & UTILIZATION (Daun et al., eds., AOCS Press, Urbana, Ill.,2011) (Daun et al., 2011); US 2015/0166928; US 20160002566.

Similarly, “oil content” is the typical percentage by weight oil presentin the mature, whole, partially dried seeds (typically containing about6% or 7% moisture). Percent oil, also be referred to as oil content, iscalculated as the weight of the oil divided by the weight of the seed ata standardized moisture content. Oil content can be characteristic ofdifferent plant varieties. It can be determined using various analyticaltechniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), near infraredreflectance (NIR), and Soxhlet extraction. For example, canola oilcontent can be measured by NMR techniques (Rossell & Pritchar, ANALYSISOF OILSEEDS, FATS & FATTY FOODS 48-53 (Elsevier Sci. Pub. Ltd, London,1991), by a pulsed wave NMS 100 Minispec, which simultaneously measuresmoisture content. Seed oil content can also be measured by NIRspectroscopy. Li et al. 67 Phytochem. 904 (2006).

The phrases “extracted plant lipid,” “isolated plant lipid,” “extractedlipid,” and the like, refer to compositions comprising lipids that havebeen extracted from, for example, crushed plant or plant parts, such asseed. The extracted lipid can be a relatively crude composition obtainedby, for example, crushing a plant material, such as seed; or a morepurified composition in which most, if not all, of the water, nucleicacids, proteins, or carbohydrates derived from the plant material havebeen removed from the oil. Examples of purification methods are known inthe art. In some embodiments, the extracted or isolated plant lipidcomprises at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, atleast about 90%, or at least about 95% (wt./wt.) lipid by weight of thecomposition. The extracted lipid may be solid or liquid at roomtemperature, the latter being considered herein “oil.” In someembodiments, extracted lipid has not been blended with another lipid,such as DHA, produced by another source (e.g., DHA from fish oil). Insome embodiments, following extraction the ratio of oleic acid to DHA,palmitic acid to DHA, linoleic acid to DHA, or total ω6 fatty acids tototal ω3 fatty acids has not been altered significantly (for example, nogreater than a 10% or 5% alteration) compared with the ratio in theintact seed or cell. In other words, the extracted oil has not beenenriched for a particular fatty acid, e.g., DHA. In other embodiments,the extracted plant lipid has not been exposed to a procedure, such ashydrogenation or fractionation, that alters the ratio of oleic acid toDHA, palmitic acid to DHA, linoleic acid to DHA, or total ω6 fatty acidsto total ω3 fatty acids, when compared with the ratio in the intact seedor cell. In other words, the extracted oil has not been enriched for aparticular fatty acid, e.g., DHA. When the extracted plant lipid of thepresent embodiments is oil, the oil may further comprise non-fatty acidmolecules such as sterols.

As noted above, the phrases “extracted plant oil” and “isolated plantoil” refer to compositions comprising extracted plant lipid or isolatedplant lipid that is a liquid at room temperature. The oil is obtainedfrom a plant or part thereof, such as seed. The extracted or isolatedoil can be a relatively crude composition obtained by, for example,crushing a plant seed; or a more purified composition where most, if notall, of the water, nucleic acids, proteins, or carbohydrates derivedfrom the plant material has been removed from the oil. The compositionmay comprise other components which may be lipid or non-lipid. In anembodiment, the oil composition comprises at least about 60%, at leastabout 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, or at least about 95%(w/w) extracted plant lipid. In an embodiment, extracted oil of theinvention has not been blended with another oil such as DHA not producedby another source (for example, DHA from fish oil). In one embodiment,following extraction, the ratio of oleic acid to DHA, palmitic acid toDHA, linoleic acid to DHA, or total ω6 fatty acids to total ω3 fattyacids, has not been altered significantly (for example, no greater thana 10% or 5% alteration) when compared with the ratio in the intact seedor cell. In an another embodiment, the extracted plant oil has not beenexposed to a procedure, such as hydrogenation or fractionation, thatalters the ratio of oleic acid to DHA, palmitic acid to DHA, linoleicacid to DHA, or total ω6 fatty acids to total ω3 fatty acids, whencompared with the ratio in the intact seed or cell. Extracted plant oilof these embodiments may comprise non-fatty acid molecules such assterols.

As used herein, “oil” is a composition comprising predominantly lipidand which is a liquid at room temperature. For instance, oil of theinvention preferably comprises at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%or at least 90% lipid by weight. Typically, purified plant oil comprisesat least 90% triacylglycerols (TAG) by weight of the lipid in the oil.Minor components of oil, such as diacylglycerols (DAG), free fatty acids(FFA), phospholipid, or sterols, may be present in oil. Edible oilderived from NS-B50027-4 may be characterized by one or more of thefollowing characteristics: a DHA content of at least about 7% by weight,a DPA content of at least about 1% by weight, an EPA content of at leastabout 0.4% by weight, an oleic/cis-vaccenic acids content of about 46%by weight, a linoleic acid content of about 8.2% by weight, an ALAcontent of at least about 19%, a combined ALA/Arachidic/SDA content ofabout 21% by weight, a combined EPA/DPA/DHA content of at least about 9%(% wt. total fatty acids). In some embodiments, the combined EPA/DPA/DHAcontent is about 16%.

As used herein, the term “fatty acid” refers to a carboxylic acid oftenwith a long aliphatic tail, either saturated or unsaturated. Typically,fatty acids have a carbon-carbon bonded chain of at least eight carbonatoms in length, for example at least 12 carbons, 16 carbons, 18carbons, 20 carbons, 22 carbons, or 24 carbons in length. Most naturallyoccurring fatty acids have an even number of carbon atoms because theirbiosynthesis involves acetate which has two carbon atoms. The fattyacids may be in a free state (non-esterified); in an esterified formsuch as part of a triglyceride (TAG), diacylglyceride (DAG),monoacylglyceride; be acyl-CoA (thioester)-bound or in another boundform. The fatty acid may be esterified as a phospholipid, such as aphosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine,phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, or diphosphatidylglycerol.

“Saturated fatty acids” contain no carbon-carbon double bonds (alkenes)or other functional groups along the chain. “Saturated” thus refers tothe presence of hydrogen at all possible carbons (apart from thecarboxylic acid [—COOH] group). In other words, in a saturated fattyacid the omega (ω) end (also called the n-end) of the fatty acidcontains three hydrogens (—CH₃), and each carbon within the chaincontains two hydrogens (—CH₂—). “Total saturates” typically refers tothe combined percentages of palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), arachidic(C20:0), behenic (C22:0), and tetracosanoic (C24:0) fatty acids.

“Unsaturated fatty acids” share a similar backbone with saturated fattyacids, except they include at least one alkene group (—CH═CH—) in thecarbon chain. The two flanking carbon atoms (bound to either side of thealkene group) can occur in a cis or trans configuration.“Monounsaturated fatty acids” refers to fatty acids that have at leasttwelve carbon atoms but only one alkene group in the carbon chain.“Polyunsaturated fatty acids” or “PUFAs” refer to fatty acids that haveat least twelve carbon atoms and at least two alkene groups in thecarbon chain. “Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids” and “LC-PUFAs”refer to fatty acids that have at least twenty carbon atoms in thecarbon chain and have at least two alkene groups. “Very long-chainpolyunsaturated fatty acids” and “VLC-PUFAs” refer to fatty acids thathave at least twenty-two carbon atoms and at least three alkene groupsin the carbon chain. A reference to LC-PUFA includes VLC-PUFA.Ordinarily, the number of carbon atoms in the carbon chain of fattyacids refers to an unbranched carbon chain. If the carbon chain isbranched, the number of carbon atoms excludes those in side-groups.

In one embodiment, the LC-PUFA is an “ω3 fatty acid” or “Omega-3 fattyacid”: it has a desaturation (alkene group, double bond, or C═C) at thethird carbon-carbon bond from the methyl end of the fatty acid. Inanother embodiment, the LC-PUFA is an ω6 fatty acid: it has adesaturation (alkene group) in the sixth carbon-carbon bond from themethyl end of the fatty acid. The position of the alkene in the fattyacid chain is also annotated using Δ(or delta), in which the position ofthe alkene is numbered with reference to the carboxylic end of the fattyacid. For example, linoleic acid can also be designated “cis-Δ9, cis-Δ12octadecadienoic acid” or Δ^(9,12) octadecadienoic acid.” Fatty acids canalso be identified with reference to a “C:D” lipid number, in which C isthe number of carbons and D is the number of double bonds in the carbonbackbone. For example, arachidonic acid can be annotated20:4Δ^(5,8,11,14) meaning a twenty-carbon chain with four alkene groups,located at carbons 5, 8, 11 and 14 from the carboxylic end of the fattyacid. This name also indicates that arachidonic acid is an ω6 fatty acidbecause if there are twenty carbons and an alkene at C14 from thecarboxylic end, the first alkene from the methyl end must be at C6.

In a further embodiment, the LC-PUFA is selected from the groupconsisting of; arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4Δ^(5,8,11,14); ω6),eicosatetraenoic acid (ETA, 20:4Δ^(8,11,14,17); ω3), eicosapentaenoicacid (EPA, 20:5Δ^(5,8,11,14,17); ω3), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA,22:5Δ^(7,10,13,16,19); ω3), or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA,22:6Δ4^(,7,10,13,16,19); ω3). The LC-PUFA may also be dihomo-γ-linoleicacid (DGLA) or eicosatrienoic acid (ETrA, 20:3Δ^(11,14,17); ω3). TheLC-PUFA produced according to the present embodiments may be a mixtureof any or all of the above, and may include other LC-PUFAs orderivatives of any of these LC-PUFAs. In at least one embodiment, the ω3fatty acids are at least one of DHA; DPA and DHA; or EPA, DPA, and DHA.

Furthermore, as noted above a LC-PUFA and VLC-PUFA can be a free fattyacid (non-esterified), esterified, or in another bound form. Thus, theLC-PUFA of the present embodiments may be present as a mixture of formsin the lipid of a cell, extracted lipid, or purified oil. In at leastone embodiment, the oil comprising at least 75% or at least 85%triacylglycerols (“TAG”), with the remainder present as other forms oflipid such as those mentioned, with the TAG comprising at least oneLC-PUFA. The oil may subsequently be further purified or treated, forexample by hydrolysis with a strong base to release the free fattyacids, or by distillation or the like.

Accordingly, “total ω3 fatty acids,” “total ω3 fatty acid content,” andthe like, refers to the sum of all ω3 fatty acids, esterified andnon-esterified, in extracted lipid, oil, recombinant cell, plant part orseed, as the context determines, typically expressed as a percentage ofthe total fatty acid content. These ω3 fatty acids include ALA, SDA,ETrA, ETA, EPA, DPA, or DHA, and exclude any ω6 fatty acids ormonounsaturated fatty acids. “New ω3 fatty acids,” “new ω3 fatty acidcontent,” and the like, refers to the sum of all ω3 fatty acidsexcluding ALA, esterified and non-esterified, in the extracted lipid,oil, recombinant cell, plant part or seed, as the context determines,expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acid content. These new ω3fatty acids are the fatty acids that are produced in the cells, plants,plant parts and seeds of the present embodiments by the expression ofelite event transgenic constructs, and if present include SDA, ETrA,ETA, EPA, DPA, or DHA, but exclude ALA, any ω6 fatty acids, ormonounsaturated fatty acids. Exemplary total ω3 fatty acid contents andnew ω3 fatty acid contents can be determined by conversion of fattyacids in a sample to FAME and analysis by GC using methods known in theart. See, e.g., American Oilseed Chemists' Society (AOCS) methodCeld-91.

Similarly, “total ω6 fatty acids,” “total ω6 fatty acid content,” andthe like, refer to the sum of all the ω6 fatty acids, esterified andnon-esterified, in the extracted lipid, oil, recombinant cell, plantpart or seed, as the context determines, expressed as a percentage ofthe total fatty acid content. “Total ω6 fatty acids,” if present, mayinclude LA, GLA, DGLA, ARA, EDA, or ω6-DPA, and excludes any ω3 fattyacids or monounsaturated fatty acids. “New ω6 fatty acids,” “new ω6fatty acid content,” and the like, refers to the sum of all ω6 fattyacids excluding LA, esterified and non-esterified, in the extractedlipid, oil, recombinant cell, plant part or seed, as the contextdetermines, expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acid content.These new ω6 fatty acids are the fatty acids that are produced in thecells, plants, plant parts, or seeds as described herein, throughexpression of the elite event transgenes, and may include GLA, DGLA,ARA, EDA, or ω6-DPA, but exclude LA, any ω3 fatty acids, ormonounsaturated fatty acids.

“Half-seed analysis” is a procedure whereby fatty acid analysis iscarried out on one of the two cotyledons (half-seed) and the remainingseedling carrying the second cotyledon is used to form a plant if theresults of the analysis are positive.

“Protein content” is the typical percentage by weight of protein in theoil-free meal, or substantially oil-free meal, e.g., with 95% or 99% ofthe oil removed, from the mature whole dried seeds, as determined bymethods known in the art. See, e.g., Daun et al., 2011; AOCS OfficialMeth. Ba 4e-93 Combustion Meth. Determination Crude Protein.

Mature seed produced by commercial growers for purposes other thangrowing or reproducing the species is sometimes referred to as “grain.”

As the skilled person would appreciate, for example, the term “obtaininga plant part” as a step in the process of the present embodiments caninclude obtaining one or more plant parts, such as seed, for use in theprocess. Obtaining the plant part includes harvesting the plant partfrom a plant such as with a mechanical harvester, or purchasing theplant part, or receiving the plant part from a supplier, or otherwiseobtaining a plant part by acquiring the plant part from someone else whohas harvested the plant part. Accordingly, for example, obtaining seedfrom NS-B50027-4 or progeny of NS-B50027-4 may include cultivatingplants, harvesting seed from plants, purchasing seed, receiving seed,acquiring seed, placing seed in a container or storing seed, ortransporting seed to a different location.

“Essentially all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof a parent” refers to a plant that has essentially all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the recurrent parent,except for the characteristics derived from the converted trait.

Inbred Canola Line NS-B50027-4

Canola line NS-B50027-4 is a stable and uniform breeding line, asdescribed herein. NS-B50027-4 has been bred with careful attention touniformity of plant type, and the line has been increased with continuedobservation for uniformity. NS-B50027-4 has been field tested, underregulatory authorization, at ten sites in major canola growing regionsof Australia and Canada. Agronomic performance assessments wereconducted in multi-site field studies to measure characteristics such asemergence, seedling vigor, plant height, lodging, and yield. All fieldtrials were also observed for opportunistic disease or insect stressorsas well as normal phenotypic characteristics.

The line NS-B50027-4 is similar to the Australian cultivar AV Jade (theparent isogenic line) in terms of leaf, flower and silique, and producesplants of a similar plant height and habit at maturity. The lineNS-B50027-4 has acceptable resistance to blackleg disease(Leptosphaeria), and has similar seed yield potential in typicalAustralian canola cropping environments and shows no increasedpropensity for seed shattering or plant lodging at maturity comparedwith AV Jade. There were no meaningful differences observed between DHAcanola and AV Jade for plant pest characteristics, and no indication ofa selective advantage that could result in increased weediness potentialof NS-B50027-4 canola.

In addition to the LC-PUFA trait, the line NS-B50027-4 isdistinguishable from AV Jade by a slightly longer time to reachflowering stage and is similar to the Australian cultivar ATR Wahoo inthis respect. NS-B50027-4 is distinguished particularly for theproduction in its seeds of LC-PUFA, particularly LC-ω3 fatty acids, andmore particularly DHA. Canola line NS-B50027-4 is not a parent of anyother canola cultivar commercialized at the time of the patent filingfor this line NS-B50027-4.

Inbred transgenic canola line NS-B50027-4 has the following morphologyand physiological characteristics (based primarily on data collected andaveraged from eight different locations in Australia during 2015):

TABLE 1 Description Information: NS-B50027-4 and AV Jade NS-B50027-4Comparator: AV Jade Species Brassica napus Brassica napus Leaf: Greencolor medium medium Leaf: Lobes present present Leaf: Number of lobesmedium medium Leaf: Dentation of margin medium medium Leaf: Lengthmedium medium Time of Flowering medium to late medium Flower: Color ofpetals yellow yellow Flower: Width of petals medium medium Flower:Production of pollen present present Plant: Seedling vigor medium tohigh medium Plant: Height at full flowering medium medium Plant: Lodgingat maturity low low Blackleg Disease Resistance present present Silique:Length medium to long medium to long Silique: Length of beak mediummedium Silique: Length of peduncle medium to long medium to long SeedShattering low low Seed: Yield high high Seed % Oil moderate moderateSeed: % Erucic Acid nil nil Seed: % EPA C20:5n3 present absent Seed: %DPA C22:5n3 present absent Seed: % DHA C22:6n3 present absent

Another aspect of the present embodiments provides a method forproducing a NS-B50027-4-derived Brassica or canola plant, or partsthereof such as seed, comprising obtaining the seed of NS-B50027-4 orthe seed of the novel Brassica napus line described above, and growingthe seed to a plant under Brassica or canola growing conditions. Anotherembodiment provides for obtaining a hybrid seed by obtaining seed ofNS-B50027-4 or the seed of the Brassica napus line as described above,growing the plant, cross-pollinating the plant, and obtaining seed thatmatures from the cross-pollination. The seed can then be cultivatedunder Brassica plant or canola growing conditions to obtain a hybridBrassica or canola plant, or parts thereof, including seed. Accordingly,another aspect provides a method of growing Brassica napus lineNS-B50027-4 (representative seed of said line having been depositedunder ATCC® Accession No. PTA-123186), a sub-line of NS-B50027-4,progeny of NS-B50027-4 or the sub-line, or a plant produced by crossingNS-B50027-4 with a second Brassica plant comprising: obtaining BrassicaNS-B50027-4 seed or the seed of a Brassica napus line as describedabove, and growing the seed under Brassica plant growing conditions.Further aspects regarding progeny, hybrids, and introgressionhybridization to yield NS-N50027-4 are described herein.

Elite Event

The phenotypic expression of transgenes in canola is determined both bythe structure of the transgene cassette itself and by its insertlocation in the plant genome: the presence of transgenes at particularlocations in the plant genome may influence the expression of thetransgene and the overall phenotype of the plant. The incorporation of arecombinant DNA molecule in the plant genome typically results fromtransformation of a cell or tissue (or from another geneticmanipulation). The particular site(s) of incorporation may be a matterof chance or predetermined (if a process of targeted integration isused). The agronomically or industrially successful introduction of acommercially interesting trait in a plant by genetic manipulation can bea lengthy procedure dependent on different factors. The actualtransformation and regeneration of genetically transformed plants areonly the first in a series of selection steps, which include extensivegenetic characterization, breeding, and evaluation in a glasshouse orfield trials, eventually leading to the selection of an elite event.

NS-B50027-4 was selected as an elite event in the development of canolathat produces LC-PUFA, particularly LC-ω3 fatty acids, and moreparticularly DHA. An “elite event” is an event selected from a group ofevents, obtained by transformation with the same transforming DNA or bybackcrossing with plants obtained by such transformation, based on theexpression and stability of the transgene constructs, compatibility withoptimal agronomic characteristics of the plant comprising suchconstructs, and realization of the desired phenotypic trait. Thus, thecriteria for elite event selection are at least one, and advantageouslyall, of the following:

-   -   (a) the presence of the transgenes does not unduly compromise        other desired characteristics of the plant, such as those        relating to agronomic performance or commercial value;    -   (b) the event is characterized by defined molecular        configuration that is stably inherited and for which appropriate        diagnostic tools for identity control can be developed;    -   (c) the genes of interest in the transgene cassette show a        correct, appropriate, and stable spatial and temporal phenotypic        expression, at a commercially acceptable level in a range of        environmental conditions in which the plants carrying the event        are likely to be exposed in normal agronomic use. The transgenes        may also be associated with positions in the plant genome that        allow introgression into further desired commercial genetic        backgrounds.

The status of an event as an elite event may be confirmed byintrogression of the elite event in different relevant geneticbackgrounds and observing compliance with at least one of the criteria,e.g., (a), (b) and (c) above. Additionally, selection of the eliteevents may also be determined on the compatibility, more specificallythat the progeny resulting from a cross between NS-B50027-4 and a plantcarrying at least one other event, such that progeny carry both events.Accordingly, an “elite event” refers to a genetic locus comprising atransgenic cassette(s) that answers to the above-described criteria. Aplant, seeds, plant material or progeny can comprise one or more eliteevents in its genome.

Expression of the transgenes confers on the plant one or more phenotypictraits (e.g., production of LC-ω3 fatty acids) that were intended to beconferred by the introduction of the transforming DNA (on the basis ofthe structure and function of some or all of the genes of interest). Inthe present embodiments, several transgenes provide the biosyntheticpathway for the production of LC-ω3 fatty acids in the transformedplant.

An aspect of the present embodiments relates to the surprising number ofcopies of expressible transgenes in the NS-B50027-4 genome.“Expressible” means that the primary structure of the DNA molecule,i.e., the coding sequence of the transgene, indicates that the geneencodes an active protein. Expressible coding sequences may not beexpressed, however, because “gene silencing” occurs via variousmechanisms of homologous transgene inactivation in vivo. Homologoustransgene inactivation has been described in plants in which a transgenehas been inserted in the sense orientation, with the unexpected resultthat both the gene and the transgene were down-regulated. Napoli et al.,2 Plant Cell 279 (1990). Possible mechanisms for inactivation ofhomologous genetic sequences include transcriptional inactivation viamethylation, in which duplicated DNA regions signal endogenousmechanisms for gene silencing, and post-transcriptional silencing, inwhich the combined levels of mRNA from both the endogenous gene andtransgene trigger threshold-induced degradation of both messages. Seevan Bokland et al., 6 Plant J. 861 (1994). Surprisingly, however,although there are at least three copies of several transgenes inNS-B50027-4, some of which are disposed in the same orientation,NS-B50027-4 exhibits synergistic DHA expression.

Initial transformants cultivated from Brassica napus . (var. AV Jade)exhibited a wide variation in levels of fatty acid production,particularly in EPA and DHA levels. For the second and thirdgenerations, selection was based primarily on DHA and EPA content oftransgenic seeds. In some cases, particularly T2 or T3 generations,segregation patterns (determined by growing twenty to forty individualseeds from one plant to twenty to forty offspring, and then measuringthe DHA and EPA content of the individual seeds of those offspring) alsoexhibited scattered results, indicating complex or multi-copy insertionshad occurred. Many of the initial T2 or T3 generations of plants werethus discarded. Initially, it was concluded that multiple copies of thetransgenic insert would yield unstable transformants, and also exhibitclassic gene silencing seen in homozygous genotypes as discussed above.Therefore, if PCR analysis of transformed plants indicated copynumber>1, those transformants were often discarded.

Surprisingly, elite event NS-B50027-4 was found to contain a stable (andfunctional) multi-copy event: a sixteen-gene insertion including twoeight-gene-T-DNA-bordered cassettes (each eight-gene insert encodingseven enzymes and a marker) arranged in binary (inverted)left-border-to-left-border fashion (analogous to a massive palindrome);and a separate, smaller four-gene cassette; and this combination oftransgene inserts act synergistically in the production of DHA in inbredline NS-B50027-4. More specifically, a combination of crossing,backcrossing, and self-crossing segregated the sixteen-gene insert tochromosome A05 (also called N05), and the four-gene insert to chromosomeA02 (also called N02). The contribution of each transgenic chromosomewas determined by breeding each segregant to obtain pure homozygouslines of each event. For example, in one experiment the segregantcomprising the sixteen-gene insert produced about 4% DHA; and segregantcomprising the four-gene insert produced no DHA; but when the segregantswere bred to combine the transgenic chromosome A02 locus and transgenicchromosome A05 locus, the combination of the two transgenic insertsprovided a plant that produced at least about 7% DHA to at least about14% DHA, inclusive, in its seed. This result was unexpected. As noted,despite the unusual genetic makeup of elite event NS-B50027-4, the linehas proved stable and consistent in fatty acid production.

As noted herein, the biosynthetic pathway for LC-PUFA includedseed-specific promoters to limit expression and production of LC-PUFA todeveloping seed. No expression of any of the seven transgenes wasdetected in NS-B50027-4 whole plants, roots, flowers, or other planttissues (e.g., flower bud, young silique) aside from seed. In developingseed, the transgenic proteins were present from highest to lowestcontent (ng/mg total protein):Pavsa-Δ4D>Lackl-Δ12D>Picpa-ω3D>Micpu-Δ6D>Pavsa-Δ5D>Pyrco-Δ6E, andPyrco-Δ5E was undetectable. In mature seed, the transgenic protein waspresent from highest to lowest content (ng/mg total protein):Pavsa-Δ4D>Lackl-Δ12D=Picpa-ω3D>Pavsa-Δ5D>Micpu-Δ6D>Pyrco-Δ5E, whilePyrco-Δ6E was undetectable.

An aspect of the present embodiments provides a method of increasing theLC-PUFA in a plant by providing (e.g., by genetic transformation orbreeding) the plant with multiple copies of genetic constructsexpressing some enzymes of the “front end” of the LC-PUFA biosyntheticpathway. See Napier et al., 330 Biochem. J. 611 (1998) (characterizingstructure as N-terminal cytochrome b5 domain and typical fattyacid-desaturase domain having three highly conserved histidine boxes).For example, although not all of the enzymes Δ6-desaturases,Δ5-desaturases, Δ5-elongases, and ω3/Δ15-desaturases (considered no. 2,no. 3, no. 5, and no. 6 in the biosynthetic pathway) may be consideredexclusively as the front end desaturases, in particular embodimentsthese genes are assembled into an artificial locus that enhances theproduction of LC-PUFA such as DHA. In particular embodiments, theartificial locus comprising some front end genes includes Micromonaspusilla-derived Δ6-desaturase, Pyramimonas cordata-derived Δ5-elongase,Pavlova salina-derived Δ5-desaturase, and Pichia pastoris-derivedΔ15/ω3-desaturase. The location of this artificial locus on chromosomeA02 of NS-B50027-4 provides a means of segregating this locus into aplant line (segregant), and enables its introgression into another plantby conventional plant breeding techniques.

Oil and ω3 Fatty Acid

With canola line NS-B50027-4 plants, according to the presentembodiments, ω3 and LC-ω3 fatty acid can be produced in commercialquantities from NS-B50027-4 canola seed. Thus, techniques for theselection and propagation of transformed plants yield a plurality ofplants with advantageous traits of NS-B50027-4, that are harvested in aconventional manner and the fatty acid extracted from a tissue ofinterest, e.g., seeds.

In a further embodiment, extracted plant lipid can be treated toincrease the level of DHA as a percentage of the total fatty acidcontent. For example, the treatment comprises hydrolysis of theesterified fatty acids to produce free fatty acids, ortransesterification to modify TAG components. For example, oil from seedof NS-B50027-4 or its progeny may be enriched for DHA content, ortreated to convert the fatty acids in the oil to alkyl esters such asmethyl or ethyl esters, which may then be purified or fractionated toenrich the lipid or oil for DHA. In some embodiments, the fatty acidcomposition of the lipid after such treatment comprises at least 40%, atleast 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, or atleast 95% DHA, inclusive.

The present embodiments also include progeny and descendants of thesenew B. napus lines from line NS-B50027-4. The progeny or descendants canbe developed by methods of breeding or tissue culture as are known tothose skilled in the art. For example, the progeny or descendants cancontain the canola fatty acid profile developed in these lines.Accordingly, the descendants or progeny can have any number of genesfrom the developed lines. The descendants or progeny can include onlythose genes that provide the canola fatty acid phenotype providedherein, or additional genes. This can be determined by molecularanalysis as is known to those skilled in the art.

An aspect provides a method for developing a Brassica seed, such as B.napus or B. juncea, having a phenotype of NS-B50027-4, for example, aDHA seed content of comprising at least 5%, about 6%, about 7%, about8%, about 9%, about 10%, about 11%, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about14% DHA, about 15%, about 16% DHA, about 17% DHA, about 18% DHA, about19% DHA, about 20% DHA, about 21% DHA, about 22% DHA, about 23% DHA,about 24% DHA, about 25% DHA, inclusive, or more DHA (as wt. % of totalfatty acids); or for example, the LC-PUFA fatty acid content is at least5% LC-PUFA, about 6% LC-PUFA, about 7% LC-PUFA, about 8% LC-PUFA, about9% LC-PUFA, about 10% LC-PUFA, about 11% LC-PUFA, about 12% LC-PUFA,about 13%, about 14% LC-PUFA, about 15% LC-PUFA, about 16% LC-PUFA,about 17% LC-PUFA, about 18% LC-PUFA, about 19% LC-PUFA, about 20%LC-PUFA, about 21% LC-PUFA, about 22% LC-PUFA, about 23% LC-PUFA, about24% LC-PUFA, about 25% LC-PUFA, inclusive, or more LC-PUFA (sum of EPA,DPA, and DHA as wt. % of total fatty acids).

Another aspect provides a homogeneous assemblage of crushed Brassicanapus seed produced from the plants described herein (i.e., seed fromNS-B50027-4 or seed from progeny comprising at least one locus ofNS-B50027-4), wherein the crushed B. napus seed have at least about 30%,about 35%, or from about 36% to about 40%, inclusive, by weight, oftotal fatty acids (% wt. seed). In particular embodiments, for example,the fatty acid content of NS-B50027-4 seed or seed obtained from progenycomprising at least one locus from NS-B50027-4 comprises at least 5%DHA, about 6% DHA, about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10%DHA, about 11% DHA, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about15%, about 16% DHA, about 17% DHA, about 18% DHA, about 19% DHA, about20% DHA, about 21% DHA, about 22% DHA, about 23% DHA, about 24% DHA,about 25% DHA, inclusive (as wt. % of total fatty acids), or more DHA.In particular embodiments, for example, the fatty acid content ofNS-B50027-4 seed or seed of progeny containing at least one locus fromNS-B50027-4 comprises at least 5% LC-PUFA, about 6% LC-PUFA, about 7%LC-PUFA, about 8% LC-PUFA, about 9% LC-PUFA, about 10% LC-PUFA, about11% LC-PUFA, about 12% LC-PUFA, about 13%, about 14% LC-PUFA, about 15%LC-PUFA, about 16% LC-PUFA, about 17% LC-PUFA, about 18% LC-PUFA, about19% LC-PUFA, about 20% LC-PUFA, about 21% LC-PUFA, about 22% LC-PUFA,about 23% LC-PUFA, about 24% LC-PUFA, about 25% LC-PUFA, about 26%LC-PUFA, about 27% LC-PUFA, about 28% LC-PUFA, about 29% LC-PUFA, about30% LC-PUFA, about 31% LC-PUFA, about 32% LC-PUFA, about 33% inclusive,or more LC-PUFA (LC-PUFA is sum of EPA, DPA, and DHA as wt. % of totalfatty acids). In other embodiments, for example, the fatty acid contentof NS-B50027-4 seed comprises at least about 18% ALA, about 19% ALA,about 20% ALA, about 21% ALA, about 22% ALA, about 23% ALA, about 24%ALA, about 25% ALA, about 26% ALA, inclusive, or more ALA as wt. % ofthe total fatty acids of the seed.

Also provided is a homogeneous assemblage of crushed Brassica napusNS-B50027-4 seed disclosed herein, or a homogeneous assemblage ofcrushed B. napus seed from a progeny or descendent of NS-B50027-4,wherein the crushed B. napus seeds have a DHA content of at least 5%DHA, about 6% DHA, about 7% DHA, about 8% DHA, about 9% DHA, about 10%DHA, about 11% DHA, about 12% DHA, about 13% DHA, about 14% DHA, about15%, about 16% DHA, about 17% DHA, about 18% DHA, about 19% DHA, about20% DHA, about 21% DHA, about 22% DHA, about 23% DHA, about 24% DHA,about 25% DHA, inclusive, or more DHA (as wt. % of total fatty acids).Also provided is the oil, meal, and protein from such crushed seed.

In a further embodiment, extracted plant lipid (e.g., oil) can betreated to increase the level of DHA as a percentage of the total fattyacid content. For example, the treatment comprises hydrolysis of theesterified fatty acids to produce free fatty acids, ortransesterification. For example, canola oil may be treated to convertthe fatty acids in the oil to alkyl esters such as methyl or ethylesters, which may then be fractionated to enrich the lipid or oil forDHA. In embodiments, the fatty acid composition of the lipid after suchenrichment comprises at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least70%, at least 80%, at least 90% DHA, or at least 95% DHA, inclusive.

Another embodiment provides a method of producing oil or meal fromBrassica napus line NS-B50027-4, representative seed of said line havingbeen deposited under ATCC® Accession No. PTA-123186, a sub-line ofNS-B50027-4, progeny of NS-B50027-4 or the sub-line, or a plant producedby crossing NS-B50027-4 with a second Brassica plant comprising: growingthe Brassica napus plant of described above under Brassica plant growingconditions; harvesting the seed; and extracting oil, meal, or proteinfrom the seed.

Another embodiment described herein provides a method of producing oilfrom Brassica napus line NS-B50027-4, representative seed of said linehaving been deposited under ATCC® Accession No. PTA-123186, a sub-lineof NS-B50027-4, progeny of NS-B50027-4 or the sub-line, or a plantproduced by crossing NS-B50027-4 with a second Brassica plant,comprising: crushing seeds of Brassica napus line NS-B50027-4,representative seed of said line having been deposited under ATCC®Accession No. PTA-123186, a sub-line of NS-B50027-4, progeny ofNS-B50027-4 or the sub-line, or a plant produced by crossing NS-B50027-4with a second Brassica plant; and extracting oil from said seeds.

Another aspect provides seed meal and protein, as well as oil, fromNS-B50027-4 seed or NS-B50027-4-derived progeny seed. Protein extractionfrom plant biomass can be accomplished by known methods. See, e.g.,Heney & Orr, 114 Anal. Biochem. 92 (1981). Meal from NS-B50027-4 seedmay prove particularly advantageous because it contains at least someDHA and other ω3 fatty acids. Similarly, the protein fraction obtainedfrom NS-B50027-4 seed comprises at least some beneficial DHA and otherω3 fatty acids. Accordingly, another embodiment provides seed mealobtained from seed of NS-B50027-4 seed or NS-B50027-4-derived progenyseed. In an embodiment, the seed meal comprises the NS-B50027-4 eliteevent. Advantageously, the seed meal retains some of the lipid or oilproduced in the seed from which the seed meal is obtained, albeit at alower level, after extraction of most of the lipid or oil from the seed.The seed meal may be used as a foodstuff, e.g., a component of animalfeed or an ingredient in food production. Given the higher ratio ofω3:ω6 fatty acid in this seed meal, the meal of NS-B50027-4 seed mayprovide superior nutrition compared with other commercially availableseed meal.

As noted above, “fatty acid content” or “fatty acid composition”generally refers to percentages by weight of various fatty acids presentin the endogenously formed oil of the mature, whole, partially driedseeds (typically containing about 6% or 7% moisture), calculated aspercent particular fatty acid as area normalized; or against a knownstandard; or as a weight ratio of fatty acid per gram of seeds (e.g., mgDHA/g seeds).

A common industry practice reports fatty acid composition as areapercentage (area normalized), rather than as absolute quantities. Forexample, chromatography often generates data as peaks, and the areaunder each peak is integrated and presented as a percentage of the totalarea under all the peaks for fatty acids in the chromatogram. Areapercentage is easy to calculate and compare with results reported byothers in the industry who also report area percentage. Area percentageis not absolute, but provides an acceptable approximation. Absoluteyield as mg/kg results can be calculated, for example, by includingreference standards of known concentration and an internal standard.Correction factors can also be used to calculate mass amounts of fattyacids.

For example, in determining the fatty acid content the seeds may becrushed, the oil triacylglycerides (TAG) extracted, followed bysaponification and methylation with methanol and sodium methoxide, or byreaction with 1.25% 3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl-trimethyl-ammoniumhydroxide in methanol (Meth Prep II™, Fischer Scientific Cat #AT18007),to form fatty acid methyl esters. The resulting fatty acid methyl esters(FAME) can be analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC), using acapillary column that separates the FAME based on the degree ofunsaturation and fatty acid chain length. FAME can also be analyzed by,for example, GC, LC-MS, GC-MS, NMR or near infrared reflectancespectroscopy. Fatty acid composition may also be determined from wholeseeds, e.g., by breaking the seed coats and subjecting the broken seedsto direct methylation. Total lipid may be separated by techniques knownin the art to purify fractions such as the TAG fraction. For example,thin-layer chromatography (TLC) may be performed at an analytical scaleto separate TAG from other lipid fractions such as DAG, acyl-CoAs orphospholipid in order to determine the fatty acid compositionspecifically of TAG. A number of other analytical techniques may be usedas known to those skilled in the art. See, e.g., Tinoco et al., 3 Anal.Biochem. 514 (1962); CANOLA: CHEMISTRY, PRODUCTION, PROCESSING &UTILIZATION (Daun et al., eds., AOCS Press, Urbana, Ill., 2011) (Daun etal., 2011); US 2015/0166928; US 20160002566.

The lipid or oil of NS-B50027-4 seed may also be purified or enriched toincrease the proportion of TAG, for example by removal of free fattyacids or phospholipids. In at least one embodiment, lipid of NS-B50027-4seed is in the form of an oil, in which at least 75%, at least 80%, atleast 85%, at least 90%, at least 95%, at least 98%, inclusive, orbetween about 95% and 98%, inclusive by weight of the lipid in is in theform of TAG.

In a further embodiment, the lipid from NS-B50027-4 seed (or progenythereof) is processed to increase the amount of DHA as a percentage ofthe total fatty acid content. For example, the treatment may comprisetransesterification. For example, the lipid may be treated to convertthe fatty acids in the oil to alkyl esters such as methyl or ethylesters, which may then be fractionated to enrich the lipid or oil torthe DHA. In embodiments, the fatty acid composition of the lipid aftersuch enrichment comprises at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, atleast 70%, at least 80%, or at least 90% DHA. Similarly, because lipidfrom NS-B50027-4 seed comprises a larger proportion of ALA than typicalcanola, lipid from NS-B50027-4 seed may be processed to enrich the lipidfor ALA content. Additionally, the fatty acid may be in a mixture offatty acids having a fatty acid composition as described herein, or maybe enriched so that the fatty acid comprises at least 40% or at least,90% of the fatty acid content of the mixture. In an embodiment, thefatty acid is non-esterified. Alternatively, the fatty acid isesterified such as, for example, to a methyl, ethyl, propyl or butylgroup.

Despite having lower oleic acid content than oils alleged to lendstability to DHA and other LC-PUFAs via high oleic acid content, LC-PUFAω3 fatty acid oil from the seed of NS-B50027-4 exhibit surprisingstability. More specifically, LC-PUFA ω3 fatty acids are notoriouslyunstable and particularly susceptible to oxidation. It is understood inthe art that encapsulation, blending with other oils, particularly higholeic acid oils, or adding antioxidants are required to extend the shelflife of LC-PUFAs and foods containing LC-PUFAs. Despite a lack of suchtreatments, however, evidence suggests that oil extracted from crushedNS-B50027-4 seed retains freshness for months at room temperature.Additionally, the levels of nutrients such as phytosterols, vitamin E,vitamin K1, β-carotene, and minerals of NS-B50027-4 oil fall within thenatural range of other commercial canola oils. There have been nodetectable levels of undesirable substances, such as pesticides,mycotoxins, or polyaromatic hydrocarbons found in oil obtained fromNS-B50027-4. Further, no plant DNA has been detected in oil obtainedfrom NS-B50027-4.

Another aspect of the present embodiments provides a source of DHA andLC-PUFA for use in nutritional supplements and food for humans andnon-human animals. In particular, oil from NS-B50027-4 seed provides asustainable source of DHA and LC-PUFA for use in aquaculture. Due to thehigh global demands for fish and the resulting overfishing of the seas,marine and freshwater aquaculture has taken on increasing importance.See, e.g., Betancor et al., 4 Sci. Rep. 8104 (2014). For example,farming and consumption of salmonids has dramatically increased duringthe past 20 years. The diet of wild fish is very different from that oftheir fellow species in aquaculture, however. In fact, aquaculture isstill highly dependent upon marine-capture fisheries to provide keydietary nutrients, such as fish meal and fish oil. Indeed, fish oil isthe primary source of ω3-LC PUFA in aquaculture. Because marine fishoils comprise a limiting factor for the strongly growing fish farmingindustry (5% to 10% per annum), aquaculture diets contain a wide varietyof alternative plant-based ingredients such as legume seeds, oilseedcake, leaf meal, and an increasing portion of vegetable oil in additionto animal-derived oil. Replacing fish oils with vegetable oils which aretraditionally low in LC-PUFA means that less LC-PUFA are available inthe fish diet, even though some oils such as flaxseed oil contain aquantity of ALA that can be converted, albeit only to a limited extent,into LC metabolites in fishes. In general, current vegetable oils infish feed can have a detrimental effect on the FA distribution in fish,and they can alter the ω3/ω6 ratio and reduce the total LC-PUFA in thefish flesh.

For example, typical vegetable oils contain high amounts of ω6 PUFA,mainly as linoleic acid (C18:2 ω6; LA). Oil from the parent line AV Jadehas a DHA:LA ratio of 0.016; oil from NS-B50027-4 has a DHA:LA ratio of1.048; compared with oil from farm-raised salmon having a DHA:LA ratioof 0.908. Strobel et al., 11 Lipids Health Dis. 144 (2012).Interestingly, the ratios of ω3 FAs from NS-B50027-4 are particularlyadvantageous regarding palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid associatedwith cardiovascular disease and dyslipidemia. Diet, Nutrition &Prevention of Chronic Dis., WHO Tech. Rep. Series 916, Report of a JointWHO/FAO Expert Consultation, 88 (World Health Organization, Geneva,2003). Oil from the parent line AV Jade has a no DHA; an example oilfrom NS-B50027-4 has a DHA:palmitate ratio of about 2.12; compared withoil from farm-raised salmon having a DHA:palmitate ratio of about 0.59;and oil from wild salmon has a DHA:palmitate ratio of about 1.028.Strobel et al., 2012. The preparation of foodstuffs for use inaquaculture including LC-PUFAs is otherwise known in the art. SeeBetancor et al., 2014; Petrie et al., 9 PLOS ONE 1, 2014; Tocher, 449Aquaculture 94 (2015).

Therefore, the scope of the present embodiments encompasses the use ofoil from NS-B50027-4 as a source of ω3 fatty acids for aquaculture feed,and an aquaculture feed comprising oil obtained from NS-B50027-4 and itsprogeny. Studies with oil obtained from NS-B50027-4 have shown this oilis safe for inclusion in feed provided to freshwater salmon (2 gram to25 gram fingerlings), and that EPA and DHA from NS-B50027-4oil-containing feed was incorporated into salmon flesh.

In another aspect, the present embodiments provide compositionscomprising one or more of the lipid, oil, fatty acid, seed, seed meal,protein, cell, oilseed plant, or plant part of NS-B50027-4. In someembodiments, the composition further comprises a carrier suitable forpharmaceutical, food, or agricultural use, a seed treatment compound, afertilizer, another food or feed ingredient, or added protein orvitamins FIG. 4 provides a diagram of possible processing steps,products or fractions from various process steps, and proposed uses forsuch fractions or products.

Also provided are foodstuffs, cosmetics, or chemicals comprising one ormore of the lipid or oil obtained from NS-B50027-4, the fatty acidobtained from NS-B50027-4, the cell obtained from NS-B50027-4, theoilseed plant, seed meal, or other composition obtained or derived fromNS-B50027-4. Another aspect provides a method of producing a foodstuff,the method comprising mixing one or more of lipid or oil of NS-B50027-4or progeny thereof, fatty acid of NS-B50027-4 or progeny thereof, acell, plant part, seed, seed meal, oilseed plant of NS-B50027-4 orprogeny thereof, or another composition comprising any of thesecompositions as obtained or derived from NS-B50027-4 or progeny thereof,with at least one other food ingredient. The method may comprise stepsof blending, cooking, baking, extruding, emulsifying, or otherwiseformulating the foodstuff, or packaging the foodstuff, or of analyzingthe amount of lipid or oil in the foodstuff.

The foodstuff envisioned herein comprises oil, lipid, fatty acid ester,or fatty acid produced directly or indirectly by use of the methods,cells, plants, or seed disclosed herein, i.e., the oil from NS-B50027-4seed or from seed obtained from progeny derived from NS-B50027-4comprising at least one locus from NS-B50027-4. Foodstuffs include foodor preparations for human or animal consumption which when taken intothe body nourish or build up tissues, or supply energy; or maintain,restore or support adequate nutritional status for metabolic function.Foodstuffs include nutritional compositions for babies or young childrensuch as, for example, infant formula, and seed meal. Foodstuffs alsoinclude food additives such as nutritional supplements. Additionally,the foodstuff may include edible macronutrients, protein, carbohydrate,vitamins, or minerals in amounts suitable for a particular use. Theamounts of these ingredients varies depending on whether the compositionis intended for use with normal individuals or for use with individualshaving specialized needs, such as individuals suffering from metabolicdisorders and the like. The foodstuff may either be in a solid, liquid,gel, or emulsion form. The foodstuff can be added to food of any typefor any suitable purpose, i.e., it is not required to be added forstrictly nutritional purposes.

The foodstuff envisioned herein also comprises crushed canola, canolaseed meal, or the protein processed therefrom (i.e., meal, cake, or mealprotein) from seed of NS-B50027-4 or progeny derived from NS-B50027-4,comprising at least one locus from NS-B50027-4. Current use of canolameal in specific high-value manufactured feeds is often restricted dueto a range of issues including anti-nutritional factors, high fibrecontent, limited digestibility, and absence of ω3-FA or LC-PUFA, or lowdensity source of protein. Processing the meal cake fraction of canolaseed to concentrate canola protein may eliminate such issues, such thatcanola protein obtained from seed of NS-B50027-4 or its progeny offers asuitable replacement for fishmeal, canola meal, soy meal, or soy proteinconcentrate, as well as a range of other widely used feed ingredients.For example, shrimp require ten essential amino acids. Canola has asuitable balance of amino acids for shrimp. Four fatty acids areessential for shrimp: LA, ALA, and more importantly, EPA and DHA. Theratio of ω3 to ω6 fatty acids is also important in shrimp feed, with theoptimum ω3:ω6 ratio about 2.5. Total lipid feed inclusion of 4.5% to7.5% is considered optimal. The inclusion of some oil in meal-derivedprotein from the canola lines described herein would prove advantageous.Moreover, apparent crude protein digestibility for shrimp is high atover 80%; and historically, studies have indicated that protein fromplants is less digestible than the protein derived from fish meal.Through protein fractionation and concentration of protein processedfrom cake meal from canola describer herein, the digestibility isexpected to closely match fishmeal and may be superior to current canolameal. Such protein products may also provide important alternatives tofishmeal in feed for aquaculture and terrestrial animals.

In another aspect, the present NS-B50027-4 provides a method of treatingor preventing a condition that would benefit from a PUFA such asω3-fatty acid or DHA, the method comprising administering to a subjectone or more of the lipid or oil obtained from NS-B50027-4, the fattyacid obtained from NS-B50027-4, the cell obtained from NS-B50027-4, theoilseed plant, seed meal, or other composition obtained or derived fromNS-B50027-4. Another aspect provides a method of producing a medicament,the method comprising mixing one or more of lipid or oil of NS-B50027-4,fatty acid of NS-B50027-4, cell according NS-B50027-4, oilseed plant ofNS-B50027-4, plant part of NS-B50027-4, seed of NS-B50027-4, seed mealof NS-B50027-4, or another composition comprising any of thesecompositions as obtained or derived from NS-B50027-4 or progeny thereof;which medicament can be administered in the form of a pharmaceuticalcomposition comprising an ethyl ester of the PUFA. The subject may be ahuman or non-human animal.

Examples of conditions that may benefit from ω3 fatty acid includeelevated serum triglyceride levels, elevated serum cholesterol levelssuch as elevated LDL cholesterol, cardiac arrhythmias, high bloodpressure, coronary heart disease, restenosis after angioplasty,inflammation, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn'sdisease, psoriasis, eczema platelet aggregation, gastrointestinalbleeding, endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome, kidney stones, fetalalcohol syndrome, attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, unipolardepression, bipolar depression, aggressive hostility, schizophrenia,adrenoleukodystophy, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis,Alzheimer's disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease multiplesclerosis, cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria, myalgic encephalomyelitis,acquired immunodeficiency disorder, chronic fatigue after viralinfection, cancer, or ocular disease.

The production of the medicament may comprise mixing the oil obtainedfrom NS-B50027-4 with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, fortreatment of a condition as exemplified herein. The method may comprisepurifying the oil, or transesterification or fractionation of the oil toincrease the level of DHA. In a particular embodiment, the methodcomprises treating the lipid or oil to convert the fatty acids in theoil to alkyl esters such as methyl or ethyl esters. Further treatmentsuch as fractionation or distillation may be applied to enrich the lipidor oil for DHA. In an example embodiment, the medicament comprises ethylesters of DHA. The level of ethyl esters of DHA in the medicament may bebetween about 30% and about 50%, inclusive, or at least 80%, at least85%, at least 90% or at least 95%, inclusive, of the medicament, or ofthe fatty acid component of the medicament. The medicament may furthercomprise ethyl esters of EPA or DPA, such as between 30% and 50%,inclusive, or at least 90% of the total fatty acid content in themedicament. The medicament may further comprise ethyl esters of ALA, EPAor DPA, such that ω3 fatty acid content is between about 30% and about50%, inclusive, or at least 90% of the total fatty acid content in themedicament. Such medicaments are suitable for administration to human oranimal subjects as determined by a health care professional. Theformulation of pharmaceutical compositions comprising fatty acid isknown in the art. Additionally, as is known in the art, a minimum ofabout 300 mg per day of ω3 fatty acid, especially ω3 LC-PUFA, such asEPA, DPA or DHA, is desirable; but dosages from 0.1 mg to 20 g per day,or more, of a particular fatty acid may be appropriate as advised by ahealth care professional.

Additionally, the oil obtained from NS-B50027-4 can be used for cosmeticpurposes: it may be added to pre-existing cosmetic compositions suchthat a mixture is formed, or a fatty acid produced as described hereinmay be used as an “active” ingredient in a cosmetic composition. See,e.g., US 2008/0241082.

Additionally, techniques that are routinely practiced in the art can beused to extract, process, and analyze the oils produced primarily in theseed of NS-B50027-4. Oil can be obtained by cold-pressing, aqueoustreatment, or by more typical processing. See, e.g., Mansour et al., 6Nutrients 776 (2014); U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,513. For example, NS-B50027-4seed can be cold-pressed (e.g., via screw press) and the oil filtered;and the remaining meal cake can be extracted with hexane to obtainadditional oil from the crushed/pressed canola seed.

In processed food production, for example, canola seed is cooked,pressed, and extracted to produce crude oil that is then degummed,refined, bleached, and deodorized. Various steps can be conducted undernitrogen atmosphere. Generally, techniques for crushing seed are knownin the art. For example, oilseed may be tempered (if needed) by sprayingwith or soaking in water to raise the seed moisture content to, forexample, 7% to 8.5%. The tempered seed is flaked, for example, using asmooth roller with a gap setting of 0.23 to 0.27 mm Heating may beapplied to deactivate enzymes, rupture cells, coalesce oil droplets, andagglomerate protein particles. The majority of seed oil is released bypressing, via passage through a screw press, which yields processed seedmeal (“cake”) and pressed crude oil. Crude oil produced by the pressingoperation can be clarified by passage through a settling tank with aslotted wire drainage top to remove the solids that are expressed withthe oil during the pressing operation. This clarified oil can bestreamed through a plate and frame filter to remove any remaining finesolid particles. Cake expelled from the screw press often containssignificant oil, which can be solvent-extracted, for example, withhexane, using, for example, a heat traced column, to obtain additionaloil from the seed meal. Once the solvent is stripped from the crude oilobtained from the cake, then pressed and extracted oils can be combinedand subjected to further oil processing procedures. For example, theextracted lipid or oil may be subjected to one or more processing stepsto increase the purity of the lipid/oil component. For example,purification steps may comprise treating the extracted crude oil with atleast one of degumming, deodorizing, decolorizing, drying,fractionating, or fortifying with antioxidants (e.g., mixedtocopherols).

Degumming is an early step in refining oils and primarily serves toremove most of the phospholipids from the oil, which may be present asabout 1% to 2% of the total extracted lipid. Addition of water,typically 2% containing phosphoric acid to the crude oil at 70° C. to80° C. results in the separation of most of the phospholipids, tracemetals, pigments, and insoluble lecithin. Degumming can also beperformed by adding concentrated phosphoric acid to the crude seedoil toconvert non-hydratable phosphatides to a hydratable form, and to chelateminor metals that are present. Gum is separated from the seedoil bycentrifugation.

Alkali refining, sometimes also referred to as neutralization, usuallyfollows de-gumming and precedes deodorizing and bleaching. Morespecifically, following degumming the seedoil is titrated with asufficient amount of an alkali solution to neutralize free fatty acidand phosphoric acids, and separate the triglyceride fraction. Suitablealkaline materials include sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodiumcarbonate, lithium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate andammonium hydroxide. Soap is removed by centrifugation or by extraction,into a solvent for the soap, and the neutralized oil is washed withwater. If required, any excess alkali in the oil may be neutralized witha suitable acid such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid.

Some plant oil, such as soybean oil, is processed by a combination ofdegumming and neutralization. For the conditioning of the nonhydratablephosphatides, a small quantity of phosphoric or citric acid is added tothe crude non-degummed oil. After intensive mixing, diluted caustic soda(7% and 12%) is added to neutralize the free fatty acids. Adequate waterhydrates the phosphatides in the presence of the caustic. Following thereaction time in a retention mixer, the oil is heated and sent directlyto a separator to separate the soapstock. The neutral oil is washed inabout 3% to 10% water to reduce the residual soap content, and themixture is separated into wash water and oil. Residual humidity of theoil is reduced in a vacuum drier.

Deodorization is treatment of oils and fats at a high temperature (200°C.˜260° C.) and low pressure (0.1-1 mm Hg), typically achieved byintroducing steam into the seedoil at a rate of about 0.1 mL/minute/100mL of seedoil. After about 30 minutes of such sparging, the seedoil iscooled under vacuum. The seedoil is typically transferred to a glasscontainer and flushed with argon before being stored underrefrigeration. This treatment also improves the color of the seedoil,and removes a majority of the volatile or odorous compounds, includingany remaining free fatty acids, monoacylglycerols, or oxidationproducts.

Bleaching is a refining process in which oils are heated at 90° C. to120° C. for 10 to 30 minutes in the presence of (e.g., 0.2% to 2.0%) ofa bleaching earth (e.g., TRISYL® Silicas, W.R. Grace & Co., Columbia,Md., US), and in the absence of oxygen (by operating under nitrogen orin a vacuum). This step removes unwanted pigments (carotenoids,chlorophyll, gossypol, etc.), as well as oxidation products, tracemetals, sulphur compounds, and traces of soap. “RDB oil” refers to oilthat has been refined, deodorized, and bleached.

Winterization is a process sometimes used in commercial production ofoils for the separation of oils and fats into solid (stearin) and liquid(olein) fractions by crystallization at sub-ambient temperatures. Somevegetable oils, such as sunflower or corn oil, contain waxes (esters oflong-chained fatty alcohols and fatty acid esters) that crystallize atlow temperatures and result in turbidity in the oil. Wet winterizationin combination with neutralization is suitable for removing these waxes.It was applied originally to cottonseed oil to produce a solid-freeproduct, and can also be used to decrease the saturated fatty acidcontent of oils.

Transesterification in a process that exchanges the fatty acids withinand between TAG or transfers the fatty acid to another alcohol to forman ester. This may initially involve releasing fatty acids from TAG asfree fatty acids or it may directly produce fatty acid esters, such asfatty acid methyl esters or ethyl esters. In a transesterificationreaction of TAG with an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, the alkylgroup of the alcohol forms an ester linkage with the acyl groups(including DHA) of the TAG. When combined with a fractionation process,transesterification can be used to modify the fatty acid composition oflipids. Marangom et al., 6 Trends Food Sci. Technol. 329 (1995).Transesterification can use chemical means (e.g., strong acid- orbase-catalyzed) or enzymatic means, the latter using lipases that may beposition-specific (sn-1/3- or sn-2-specific) for the fatty acid of theTAG, or having a preference for some fatty acids over others. Adamczak,13 Pol. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 3 (2004); Ferreira-Dias Elec. 16 J.Biotechnol. (2013).

Alternatively, purification steps can avoid transesterificationprocesses or other processes that alter the fatty acid content of thelipid or oil so as to increase the DHA content as a percentage of thetotal fatty acid content. In other words, the fatty acid content/profileof a purified lipid or oil obtained from the seed of NS-B50027-4 or itsprogeny may be essentially the same as that of the unpurified lipid oroil.

Optionally, fatty acid fractionation to increase the concentration ofLC-PUFA in oil can be achieved by any of the methods known in the art,such as, for example, freezing crystallization, complex formation usingurea, molecular distillation, supercritical fluid extraction, countercurrent chromatography and silver ion complexing. Complex formation withurea is a preferred method for its simplicity and efficiency in reducingthe level of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the oil. Gamezet al., 36 Food Res. Int'l 721 (2003). Initially, TAGs of the oil aresplit into their constituent fatty acids, often in the form of fattyacid esters, by lipases, or by hydrolysis under either acid or basecatalyzed reaction conditions, whereby one mol of TAG is reacted with atleast 3 mol of alcohol (e.g., ethanol for ethyl esters or methanol formethyl esters) with excess alcohol enabling separation of the formedalkyl esters and the formed glycerol. The free fatty acids or fatty acidesters are usually unaltered in fatty acid composition by the treatment,and may then be mixed with an ethanolic solution of urea for complexformation. The saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids complex easilywith urea and crystallize out on cooling and may subsequently be removedby filtration. The completed non-urea fraction is thereby enriched withLC-PUFA.

As noted, various or multiple steps can be practiced under nitrogen,other inert atmosphere, or vacuum, and the desired oil or lipid obtainedfrom the seed of NS-B50027-4 or its progeny can be packaged undernitrogen, inert gas, or vacuum to avoid oxidation.

Also as noted herein, crushed canola, seed meal, or protein processedtherefrom (i.e., meal, cake, or meal protein) from seed obtained fromNS-B50027-4 its progeny can be used for food or feed. The high DHApressed cake can be used as high-oil cake, or be defatted with hexane toprepare meal. Hexane-treated meal is typically desolventized and toasted(DT-meal).

Identification of NS-B50027-4 and Progeny Thereof

An elite genetic event can be characterized by the location(s) and theconfiguration at the site(s) of incorporation of the recombinant DNAmolecule(s) in the plant genome. The site in the plant genome where arecombinant DNA cassette has been inserted is also referred to as the“insertion site” or “target site.” A “flanking region” or “flankingsequence” is a region of DNA, for example, at least 20 base pairs, atleast 50 base pairs, or up to 5,000 base pairs of the plant genomelocated either immediately upstream of and contiguous with, orimmediately downstream of and contiguous with, the transgenic cassette.Transformation that leads to random integration of the foreign DNAresults in transformants with different flanking regions, which arecharacteristic and unique for each transformant (elite event).

Another aspect provides a method for producing a NS-B50027-4-derivedBrassica napus plant, or parts thereof comprising crossing the Brassicanapus plant, or parts thereof, described above, with a second plant toproduce a first generation progeny seed; growing said first generationprogeny seed to produce an F2 generation plant; optionally, repeatingthe steps of crossing and growing to obtain successive filialgenerations of said seed to obtain a breeding line NS-B50027-4-derivedBrassica napus seed, plant, or parts thereof. The plant or plant parts(including any hybrid) produced by this method are also provided. In anembodiment, a genetic trait that has been engineered into the genome ofa particular canola plant may be moved into the genome of anothercultivar using traditional breeding techniques that are well known inthe plant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach may beused to move a transgene from a transformed canola cultivar into analready developed canola cultivar, and the resulting backcrossconversion plant would then comprise the transgene(s).

Accordingly, another aspect of the present embodiments providescompositions, methods, and kits for detection of NS-B50027-4. It wouldbe advantageous to be able to detect the presence of a particular eventin order to determine whether progeny of a sexual cross contain atransgene of interest. In addition, a method for detecting a particularevent would be helpful for complying with regulations requiring thepremarket approval and labeling of foods derived from recombinant cropplants, for example. It is possible to detect the presence of atransgene by any well-known nucleic acid detection method such as thepolymerase chain reaction (PCR) or DNA hybridization using nucleic acidprobes. These detection methods generally focus on frequently usedgenetic elements, such as promoters, terminators, marker genes, etc. Asa result, such methods may not be useful for discriminating betweendifferent events, particularly those produced using the same DNAconstruct unless the sequence of chromosomal DNA adjacent to theinserted DNA (“flanking DNA”) is known. Event-specific PCR assays havebeen described. See, e.g., Windels et al., Med. Fac. Landbouww, Univ.Gent 64/5b: 459 (1999) (identifying glyphosate-tolerant soybean event byPCR using primer set spanning junction: first primer included sequencefrom insert and second primer included sequence from flanking DNA).Additionally, the sixteen-gene insert of NS-B50027-4 disrupted theexpression of the Brassica gene encoding the Pto-interacting protein(PTI), a serine-threonine kinase involved in the hypersensitiveresponse-mediated signaling located on chromosome A05. Although nophenotypic change was observed, this provides another marker foridentification of NS-B50027-4 or NS-B50027-4-derived progeny.

Methods and kits herein are useful for identifying in biological samplesthe presence of plant material comprising specifically the transgenes inNS-B50027-4, as well as transgenic canola plants, plant materials, andseeds containing such event. The elite event NS-B50027-4 describedherein can be identified by genotype, which can be characterized througha genetic marker profile that can identify plants of the same cultivaror a related cultivar or be used to determine or validate a pedigree.Genetic marker profiles can be obtained by techniques such asRestriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPD), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCAR), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms(AFLP), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) (also referred to asMicrosatellites), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP).

For example, the elite event NS-B50027-4 described herein can beidentified by generation of a genetic map from a sample of plantmaterial. A genetic map can be generated by conventional RFLP,Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) analysis, or SSR which identifies theapproximate chromosomal location of the integrated DNA molecule codingfor the foreign protein. See Glick & Thompson, METHODS IN PLANT MOLEC.BIOL. & BIOTECHNOL. 269 (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., 1993). Mapinformation concerning chromosomal location is useful for proprietaryprotection of a subject transgenic plant. For example, the map of theintegration region can be compared to similar maps for suspect plants todetermine if the latter have a common parentage with the subject plant.Map comparisons can involve hybridizations, RFLP, PCR, SSR andsequencing, all of which are conventional techniques.

Another aspect of the present embodiments provides kits and methods fordetermining whether a canola plant is or is related to inbred lineNS-B50027-4, or a canola plant that comprises at least part of geneticelite event of line NS-B50027-4. Compositions and method for simple andunequivocal techniques for identification of elite event NS-B50027-4 inbiological samples are described herein.

For example, a kit can include at least one set of primers foridentification of one or more genetic markers of NS-B50027-4, such as aset of sense (forward) and antisense (backward) primers. Specificembodiments of primers include the following primers useful in kits forconducting KASP assays to detect NS-B50027-4 genetic traits,particularly useful in introgression studies and hybrid development. SeeExample 2. These primers may consist of a nucleic acid moleculecomprising at least ten consecutive nucleic acids of a sequence shown inSEQ ID NO:1 to SEQ ID NO:90 (see Table 14, Example 3), or complementsthereof.

The present invention also provides methods for identifying an eliteevent NS-B50027-4 canola plant, comprising: (a) forming a mixturecomprising a biological sample containing canola plant DNA and a firstand second nucleic acid primer capable of amplifying anevent-NS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule; (b) reacting themixture under conditions that allow the first and second nucleic acidprimers to amplify an event NS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule;and (c) detecting the presence of the amplified fragment nucleic acidmolecule, wherein the presence of the canola elite eventNS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule indicates that the canolaplant is a NS-B50027-4 canola plant.

Another embodiment provides methods for detecting an elite eventNS-B50027-4 nucleic acid molecule in a biological sample comprising: (a)forming a mixture comprising a biological sample containing DNA and anucleic acid probe capable of hybridizing to an eventNS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule; (b) reacting the mixtureunder conditions that allow the probe to hybridize to an eventNS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule; and (c) detecting thepresence of a hybridized nucleic acid molecule, wherein the presence ofthe event NS-B50027-4-specific nucleic acid molecule indicates that thesample contains event NS-B50027-4 nucleic acid molecule.

Yet another embodiment provides methods for detecting the presence of anevent NS-B50027-4 nucleic acid molecule in a biological sample,comprising: (a) forming a mixture comprising a biological samplecontaining DNA and a first primer capable of annealing to a region ofthe event NS-B50027-4 insert nucleic acid molecule and a second primercapable of annealing to a flanking nucleic acid molecule in a host cellgenome; (b) reacting the mixture under conditions that allow the firstand second nucleic acid primers to produce an amplified nucleic acidmolecule comprising a fragment of the event NS-B50027-4 insert nucleicacid molecule; and (c) detecting the presence of the amplified nucleicacid molecule, wherein the presence of the fragment of the eventNS-B50027-4 insert nucleic acid molecule indicates that the samplecontains event NS-B50027-4 insert DNA.

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current commercial canola cultivars. Inaddition to showing superior performance, there must be a demand for anew cultivar that is compatible with industry standards or which createsa new market. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additionalcosts to the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer forspecial advertising and marketing, altered seed and commercialproduction practices, and new product utilization. The testing precedingrelease of a new cultivar should take into consideration research anddevelopment costs, as well as technical superiority of the finalcultivar. For seed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produceseed easily and economically.

Progeny

The line NS-B50027-4 described herein can be used as a parent forbreeding other lines. For example, as a source it can beself-pollinated, crossed, backcrossed, used to produce doubled haploids,used as source materials for genetic transformation, or be subjected togenetic transformation, further mutagenized, and used for other forms ofbreeding as is known to those skilled in the art. The methods andresults of using the source material to breed other lines are alsowithin the scope of these embodiments.

With the advent of molecular biological techniques that have allowed theisolation and characterization of genes that encode specific proteinproducts, scientists in the field of plant biology developed a stronginterest in engineering the genome of plants to contain and expressforeign genes, or additional, or modified versions of native, orendogenous, genes (perhaps driven by different promoters) in order toalter the traits of a plant in a specific manner Any DNA sequences,whether from a different species or from the same species, which areintroduced into the genome using transformation or various breedingmethods, are referred to herein collectively as “transgenes.” Over thelast fifteen to twenty years, several methods for producing transgenicplants have been developed, and the present invention, in particularembodiments, also relates to transformed versions of the claimed line.

Nucleic acids, oligonucleotides, or polynucleotides refer to RNA or DNAmolecules that are linear or branched, single or double stranded, orhybrids thereof—including RNA/DNA hybrids. These terms also encompass 3′UTRs and 5′ UTRs, typically at least about 1000 nucleotides of sequenceupstream from the 5′ end of the coding region and at least about 200nucleotides of sequence downstream from the 3′ end of the coding regionof the gene. Less common bases, such as inosine, 5-methylcytosine,6-methyladenine, hypoxanthine, and others can also be used forantisense, dsRNA, and ribozyme pairing. For example, polynucleotidesthat contain C-5 propyne analogues of uridine and cytidine have beenshown to bind RNA with high affinity and to be potent antisenseinhibitors of gene expression. Other modifications, such as modificationto the phosphodiester backbone, or the 2′-hydroxy in the ribose sugargroup of the RNA can also be made. The antisense polynucleotides andribozymes can consist entirely of ribonucleotides, or can contain mixedribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides. The polynucleotides of theinvention may be produced by any means, including genomic preparations,cDNA preparations, in vitro synthesis, RT-PCR, and in vitro or in vivotranscription.

Plant transformation involves the construction of an expression vectorthat will function in plant cells. Such a vector comprises DNAcomprising a gene under control of, or operatively linked to, aregulatory element (for example, a promoter). The expression vector maycontain one or more such operably linked gene/regulatory elementcombinations. The vector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid, and can beused alone or in combination with other plasmids, to provide transformedcanola plants using transformation methods as known in the art toincorporate transgenes into the genetic material of the canola plant(s),including NS-B50027-4 canola plants. For example, a transgene cassettecomprising gene(s) encoding glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT),lysophatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT), or diacylglycerolacyltransferase (DGAT) may be transformed into NS-B50027-4 to modifyfatty acid or TAG synthesis. See, e.g., Shrestha et al., 7 Front. PlantSci. 1402 (2016).

A genetic trait that has been engineered into a particular canola plantusing transformation techniques could be moved into another line usingtraditional breeding techniques that are well known in the plantbreeding arts. For example, plants harboring elite event NS-B50027-4can, for example, be obtained from seed deposited at the ATCC®. Suchplants can be further propagated or used in a conventional breedingscheme to introduce event NS-B50027-4 (i.e., LC-PUFA biosynthesis) intoother cultivars of the same or related plant species. The depositedseeds belong to the species Brassica napus. Nevertheless, methods tointroduce alleles or transgenes located on the A-genome or C-genome fromB. napus to B. juncea are well known in the art and include repeatedback-crossing. A backcrossing approach can be used to move a transgenefrom a transformed canola plant to an elite inbred line and theresulting progeny comprise the transgene. Also, if an inbred line isused for the transformation, then the transgenic plants can be crossedto a different line in order to produce a transgenic hybrid canolaplant. As used herein, “crossing” can refer to a simple X by Y cross, orthe process of backcrossing, depending on the context.

Various genetic elements can further be introduced into the plant genomeusing transformation. These elements include but are not limited togenes; coding sequences; inducible, constitutive, and tissue specificpromoters; enhancing sequences; and signal and targeting sequences. Theadvent of new molecular biological techniques has allowed the isolationand characterization of genetic elements with specific functions, suchas encoding specific protein products. Scientists in the field of plantbiology developed a strong interest in engineering the genome of plantsto contain and express foreign genetic elements, or additional, ormodified versions of native or endogenous genetic elements in order toalter the traits of a plant in a specific manner Any DNA molecules,whether from a different species or from the same species, inserted intothe genome using transformation are referred to herein collectively as“transgenes”. The process of “transforming” is the insertion of DNA intothe genome. Several methods for producing transgenic plants have beendeveloped, and the present invention, in particular embodiments, alsorelates to transformed versions of the claimed canola line NS-B50027-4.

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical, plant transformation protocols. In addition,expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plant cell or tissuetransformation and regeneration of plants are available. See, e.g., Mikiet al., Procedures for introducing foreign DNA into plants, in METH.PLANT MOLEC. BIOL. & BIOTECHNOL. at 63 (Glick & Thompson, eds., CRCPress, Boca Raton, 1993); Gruber et al., Vectors for planttransformation, id. at R 89; Genetic transformation for the improvementof Canola, PROC. WORLD CONF. BIOTECHNOL. FATS & OILS INDUS. at 43-46(Am. Oil. Chem. Soc., Champaign, Ill., 1988).

The most prevalent types of plant transformation involve theconstruction of an expression vector. Such a vector comprises a DNAmolecule that contains a coding region under the control of oroperatively linked to a regulatory region, for example a promoter. Theexpression vector may contain one or more genes and one or moreregulatory elements. At least one of the coding regions and theirrespective regulatory elements can be arranged in opposite orientationwithin the vector, providing a binary vector. In theory, arrangement ofgenes susceptible to gene silencing in binary fashion may minimize genesilencing. The vector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid, and can beused alone or in combination with other plasmids, to provide transformedcanola plants using transformation methods as known in the art toincorporate transgenes into the genetic material of the NS-B50027-4plant or NS-B50027-4-derived plant.

For example, an initial transformation cassette, pJP3416_GA7-modB,included seven genes capable of promoting the accumulation of omega-3fatty acids in canola seed, and a selectable marker gene to facilitatethe selection of putative transgenic plants in vitro. See WO 2013185184;U.S. Patent Publ'n No. 20150374654; Petrie et al., 6 Plant Meth. 8(2010). The expressed genes are all synthetic—codon optimized andsynthesized—hence the transgenic DNA molecules are not found in anynatural organisms. The original DNA sequences that were used astemplates for codon optimization have been described. See Petrie et al.,12 Metab. Eng'g 233 (2010a); Petrie et al., 11 Plant Methods 6 (2010b);Petrie et al., 21 Transgenic Res. 139 (2012).

As is well-known in the art, functional gene promoters are regions ofDNA that are important for gene transcription, but do not encodefunctional products such as peptides. For example, a common promoter forconstitutive expression is derived from Cauliflower Mosaic Virus. Kay etal., 236 Sci. 1299 (1987); Coutu et al., 16 Transgenic Res. 771 (2007).Promoters under developmental control include promoters thatpreferentially initiate transcription in certain tissues, such as seeds,leaves, roots, fibers, xylem vessels, tracheids, or sclerenchyma.Promoters of particular relevance are “seed-preferred” promoters thatinitiate transcription primarily or only in seed. “Seed-preferred”promoters include both “seed-specific” promoters (those promoters activeduring seed development such as promoters of seed storage proteins) aswell as “seed-germinating” promoters (those promoters active during seedgermination). See Thompson et al., 10 BioEssays 108 (1989). Suchseed-preferred promoters include, but are not limited to, Cim1(cytokinin-induced message); cZ19B1 (maize 19 kDa zein); mi1ps(myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase) (see WO 2000/11177 and U.S. Pat. No.6,225,529). For dicots, seed-specific promoters include, but are notlimited to, bean β-phaseolin, napin, β-conglycinin, soybean lectin,cruciferin, conlinin, and the like. The seed-specific promoters used inGA7-modB have been described previously: A. thaliana FAE1 (Rossack etal., 46 Plant Molec. Biol. 717 (2001)); L. usitatissimum Cn11 and Cn12(Chaudhary et al., WO 2001016340); and truncated B. napus napin promoter(Stalberg et al., 23 Plant Molec. Biol. 671 (1993)). See also WO2013185184.

An “inducible” promoter is a promoter which is under environmentalcontrol. Examples of environmental conditions that may affect induciblepromoters include anaerobic conditions or the presence of light.Tissue-specific, tissue-preferred, (e.g., seed-specific), and induciblepromoters constitute the class of “non-constitutive” promoters. See Wardet al., 22 Plant Mol. Biol. 361 (1993); Meft et al., 90 PNAS 4567 (1993)(copper-inducible); Gatz et al., 243 Mol. Gen. Genet. 32 (1994) (inducedby herbicide safeners); Gatz, et al., 227 Mol. Gen. Genet. 229 (1991)(tetracycline-inducible); Schena et al., 88 PNAS 10421 (1991)(glucocortico-steroid-inducible). See also WO 2001016340 and thepromoters discussed therein.

A “constitutive” promoter is a promoter which is active under mostenvironmental conditions. Exemplary constitutive promoters include thepromoters from plant viruses such as the 35S promoter from CauliflowerMosaic Virus (CMV) (Odell et al., 313 Nature 810 (1985)) and thepromoters from such genes as rice actin (McElroy et al., 2 Plant Cell163 (1990)); ubiquitin (Christensen et al., 12 Plant Mol. Biol. 619(1989); Christensen et al., 18 Plant Mol. Biol. 6759 (1992)); pEMU (Lastet al., 81 Theor. Appl. Genet. 581 (1991)); MAS (Velten et al., 3 EMBOJ. 2723 (1984)) and maize H3 histone (Lepetit et al., 231 Mol. Gen.Genet. 276 (1992); Atanassova et al., 2 Plant J. 291 (1992)). The ALSpromoter, Xba1/Nco1 fragment 5′ to the Brassica napus ALS3 structuralgene (or a nucleotide sequence similarity to said Xba1/Nco1 fragment),provides another constitutive promoter. See also WO 1996/30530 andpromoters discussed therein. The CMV promoter is also associated with auseful enhancer region. See, e.g., WO 1996/30530 and WO 2013185184 andpromoters discussed therein.

Terminator regions, which include polyadenylation signals, are requiredfor the production of complete and stable mRNA molecules. For example,the A. tumefaciens nopaline synthase (NOS) terminator provides a usefulterminator. Bevan, 12 Nucl. Acid Res. 8711 (1984); Rogers et al., inBIOTECHNOL. PLANT SCI. at 219 (Acad. Press, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1985);Sanders et al., 15 Nucl. Acids Res. 1543 (1987). A range of regulatorysequences were used in combination to drive and terminate transcriptionthe various expression cassettes.

Transport of protein produced by transgenes to a subcellular compartmentsuch as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome, cell wall, ormitochondrion, or for secretion into the apoplast, is accomplished bymeans of operably linking the nucleotide sequence encoding a signalsequence to the 5′ or 3′ region of a gene encoding the protein ofinterest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ or 3′ end of the structural genemay determine, during protein synthesis and processing, where theencoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized.

The presence of a signal sequence directs a polypeptide to either anintracellular organelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion tothe apoplast. Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, e.g.,Becker et al., 20 Plant Mol. Biol. 49 (1992); Knox et al., 9 Plant Mol.Biol. 3 (1987); Lerner et al., 91 Plant Physiol. 124 (1989); Fontes etal., 3 Plant Cell 483 (1991); Matsuoka et al., 88 PNAS 834 (1991);Creissen et al., 2 Plant J. 129 (1991); Kalderon et al., 39 Cell 499(1984); Steifel et al., 2 Plant Cell 785 (1990).

Expression vectors typically include at least one genetic marker,operably linked to a regulatory element (for example, a promoter) thatallows transformed cells containing the marker to be either recovered bynegative selection, i.e., inhibiting growth of cells that do not containthe selectable marker gene, or by positive selection, i.e., screeningfor the product encoded by the genetic marker. Many commonly usedselectable marker genes for plant transformation are well known in thetransformation arts, and include, for example, genes that code forenzymes that metabolically detoxify a selective chemical agent which maybe an antibiotic or an herbicide, or genes that encode an altered targetwhich is insensitive to the inhibitor. Positive selection methods arealso known in the art.

One commonly used selectable marker gene for plant transformation is theneomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene, isolated from transposonTn5, which when placed under the control of plant regulatory signalsconfers resistance to kanamycin. Fraley et al., 80 PNAS 4803 (1983).Another commonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin. Vanden Elzen et al., 5 Plant Mol. Biol. 299 (1985).Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to antibiotics include gentamycin acetyl transferase,streptomycin phosphotransferase, aminoglycoside-3′-adenyl transferase,the bleomycin resistance determinant Hayford et al., 86 Plant Physiol.1216 (1988); Jones et al., 210 Mol. Gen. Genet., 86 (1987); Svab et al.,14 Plant Mol. Biol. 197 (1990); Hille et al., 7 Plant Mol. Biol. 171(1986). Other selectable marker genes confer resistance to herbicidessuch as glyphosate, glufosinate, or bromoxynil. Comai et al., 317 Nature741 (1985); Gordon-Kamm et al., 2 Plant Cell 603 (1990); Stalker et al.,242 Sci. 419 (1988). Selectable marker genes for plant transformationthat are not of bacterial origin include, for example, mousedihydrofolate reductase, plant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphatesynthase, and plant acetolactate synthase. Eichholtz et al., 13 SomaticCell Mol. Genet. 67 (1987); Shah et al., 233 Sci. 478 (1986); Charest etal., 8 Plant Cell Rep. 643 (1990).

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation requiresscreening of presumptively transformed plant cells rather than directgenetic selection of transformed cells for resistance to a toxicsubstance such as an antibiotic. These genes are particularly useful toquantify or visualize the spatial pattern of expression of a gene inspecific tissues and are frequently referred to as reporter genesbecause they can be fused to a gene or gene regulatory sequence for theinvestigation of gene expression. Commonly used genes for screeningpresumptively transformed cells include α-glucuronidase (GUS),α-galactosidase, luciferase and chloramphenicol, acetyltransferase.Jefferson, 5 Plant Mol. Biol. 387 (1987); Teeri et al., 8 EMBO J. 343(1989); Koncz et al., 84 PNAS 131 (1987); DeBlock et al., 3 EMBO J. 1681(1984). Some in vivo methods for visualizing GUS activity do not requiredestruction of plant tissues. Molecular Probes, Publication 2908,IMAGENE GREEN, 1-4 (1993); Naleway et al., 115 J. Cell Biol. 151a(1991). In vivo methods for visualizing GUS activity have beenproblematic, however, exhibiting low sensitivity, high fluorescentbackgrounds, and limitations associated with the use of luciferase genesas selectable markers. Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) can be beenutilized as a marker for gene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryoticcells. Chalfie et al., 263 Sci. 802 (1994). GFP and mutants of GFP maybe used as screenable markers.

NS-B50027-4 and NS-B50027-4 progeny can further be transformed to conferdisease or pest resistance. For example, a plant line can be transformedwith a cloned resistance gene to engineer plants that are resistant tospecific pathogen strains. See, e.g., Jones et al., 266 Sci. 789 (1994)(cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistance to Cladosporium flavum);Martin, et al., 262 Sci. 1432 (1993) (tomato Pto gene for resistance toPseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, a protein kinase); Mindrinos et al., 78Cell 1089 (1994) (Arabidopsis RSP2 gene for resistance to P. syringae);Geiser et al. 48 Gene 109 (1986) (Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxingene); Van Damme et al., 24 Plant Mol. Biol. 25 (1994), (Clivia miniatamannose-binding lectin); Sumitani et al., 57 Biosci. Biotech. Biochem.1243 (1993) (amylase inhibitor); Abe et al., 262 J. Biol. Chem. 16793(1987) (cysteine proteinase inhibitor); Huub et al., 21 Plant Mol. Biol.985 (1993) (tobacco proteinase inhibitor I); Regan, 269 J. Biol. Chem. 9(1994) (insect diuretic hormone receptor); Pratt et al., 163 Biochem.Biophys. Res. Comm 1243 (1989) (allostatin); Tomalski et al., U.S. Pat.No. 5,266,317 (insect-specific, paralytic neurotoxins); Scott et al., WO1993/02197 (callase gene); Kramer et al., 23 Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol.691 (1993) (tobacco hornworm chitinase); Kawalleck et al., 21 Plant Mol.Biol. 673 (1993) (parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitin gene); WO 1995/16776(derivatives of tachyplesin inhibit fungi); WO 199518855 (syntheticantimicrobial peptides); Jaynes et al., 89 Plant Sci. 43 (1993)(cecropin-β, lytic peptide renders transgenic tobacco plants resistantto Pseudomonas solanacearum); Botella et al., 24 Plant Mol. Biol.,24:757 (1994) (mung bean calmodulin); Griess, et al., 104 Plant Physiol.1467 (1994) (maize calmodulin); Taylor, et al., Abstract #497, 7th Int'lSymp. Molec. Plant-Microbe Interactions (Edinburgh, Scotland (1994)(enzymatic inactivation in tobacco via transgenic single-chainantibody); Tavladoraki et al., 366 Nature 469 (1993) (viral resistancevia transgenic antibody); Lamb et al., 10 Bio technol. 1436 (1992)(fungal endo-α-1, 4-D-polygalacturonase fragments facilitate fungalcolonization and plant nutrient released by solubilizing plant cell wallhomo-α-1,4-D-galacturonase; Toubart et al., 2 Plant J. 367 (1992) (beanendopolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein); Logemann et al., 10Bio/technology 305 (1992) (transgenic plants expressing barleyribosome-inactivating gene have increased resistance to fungal disease).

As noted, herbicide resistance is another useful trait that can beintroduced by genetic modification. For example, resistance toherbicides that inhibit the growing point or meristem, such as animidazolinone or a sulfonylurea, can be conferred by mutant ALS and AHASenzymes. See, e.g., Lee et al., 7 EMBO J. 1241 (1988); Miki et al., 80Theor. Appl. Genet. 449 (1990); glyphosate resistance is conferred bymutant 5-enolpyruvlshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and aroAgenes; glufosinate resistance is conferred by phosphinothricin acetyltransferase genes; and ACCase inhibitor-encoding genes confersresistance to pyridinoxy or phenoxy propionic acids and cyclohexones.See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835 (EPSPS confers glyphosateresistance); mutant aroA gene, ATCC® Accession No. 39256, see Comai,U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,061; see also Umaballava-Mobapathie, 8 Transgen.Res. 33 (1999) (Lactuca sativa resistant to glufosinate); Kumada et al.,EP 0 333 033; Goodman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,374 (glutaminesynthetase genes confer resistance to herbicides such asL-phosphinothricin); Leemans et al., EP 0242246(phosphinothricin-acetyl-transferase); DeGreef et al., 7 Bio/technol. 61(1989) (chimeric bar genes encoding phosphinothricin acetyltransferase); Marshall et al., 83 Theor. Appl. Genet. 435 (1992)(Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2, and Acc1-S3 genes confer resistance to phenoxypropionic acids and cyclohexones, such as sethoxydim and haloxyfop);Przibilla et al., 3 Plant Cell 169 (1991) (PsbA and gs⁺ genes confertriazine resistance); Stalker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 (nitrilase genesconfer benzonitrile resistance); Hayes et al., 285 Biochem. J. 173(1992) (glutathione S-transferase); Hattori et al., 246 Mol. Gen. Genet.419 (1995) (acetohydroxy acid synthase confers resistance to multipleherbicides); Shiota et al., 106 Plant Physiol. 17 (1994) (yeastNADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase); Aono et al., 36 Plant CellPhysiol. 1687 (1995) (glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase);Datta et al., 20 Plant Mol. Biol. 619 (1992) (variousphosphotransferases); WO 01/12825; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,288,306; 6,282,837;5,767,373; (plants with altered protox activity are resistant toprotox-targeting herbicides).

NS-B50027-4 and NS-B50027-4-derived progeny can further be modified toconfer any number of value-added traits as are known in the art. See,e.g., Goto, et al., 521 Acta Horticul. 101 (2000) (soybean ferritingene); Curtis et al., 18 Plant Cell Rep. 889 (1999) (nitrate reductase);Knultzon et al., 89 PNAS 2625 (1992) (stearyl-ACP desaturase); Shirozaet al., 170 J. Bacteriol. 810 (1988) (nucleotide sequence ofStreptococcus mutans fructosyltransferase gene); Steinmetz et al., 20Mol. Gen. Genet. 220 (1985) (Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene); Penet al., 10 Bio/technol. 292 (1992) (transgenic plants express Bacilluslichenifonnis α-amylase); Elliot et al., 21 Plant Mol. Biol. 515 (1993)(tomato invertase genes); Søgaard et al., 268 J. Biol. Chem. 22480(1993) (site-directed mutagenesis of barley α-amylase gene); Fisher etal., 102 Plant Physiol. 1045 (1993) (maize endosperm starch branchingenzyme II).

Canola line NS-B50027-4 can also be manipulated to be male sterile byany of a number of methods known in the art, including by the use ofmechanical methods, chemical methods, self-incompatibility (SI),cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS, either ogura or another system) ornuclear male sterility (NMS). The term “manipulated to be male sterile”refers to the use of any available techniques to produce a male sterileversion of canola line NS-B50027-4. The male sterility may be eitherpartial or complete male sterility. See, e.g., WO 2001/29237(introduction of a deacetylase gene under the control of atapetum-specific promoter and with the application of the chemicalN-Ac-PPT); WO 199213956, WO 199213957 (stamen-specific promoters); Paulet al., 19 Plant Mol. Biol. 611 (1992) (introduction of barnase and thebarstar genes); see also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,859,341; 6,297,426; 5,478,369;5,824,524; 5,850,014; 6,265,640; Hanson et. al., 16 Plant Cell S154(2004).

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical, plant transformation protocols. See, e.g., WO2013185184; Miki et al., in METHS. PLANT MOLEC. BIOL. BIOTECHNOL. at67-88 (Glick & Thompson, Eds., CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., 1993).In addition, expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plantcell or tissue transformation and regeneration of plants are available.See, e.g., WO 2013185184; Gruber et al., METHS. PLANT MOLEC. BIOL.BIOTECHNOL. at 89-119 (Glick & Thompson, Eds., CRC Press, Inc., BocaRaton, Fla., 1993). One method for introducing an expression vector intoplants uses the natural transformation system of Agrobacterium, seeHorsch et al., 227 Sci. 1229 (1985); Curtis et al., 45 J. Exper. Botany1441 (1994); Torres et al., 34 Plant Cell Tissue Organ Culture 279(1993); Dinant et al., 3 Molec. Breeding 75 (1997); Kado, 10 Crit. Rev.Plant Sci. 1 (1991) (Ti and Ri plasmids of A. tumefaciens and A.rhizogenes, respectively, carry genes responsible for genetictransformation of plant); Gruber et al.; Miki et al.; Moloney et al., 8Plant Cell Rep. 238 (1989) (Agrobacterium vector systems, methods forAgrobacterium-mediated gene transfer); U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,616.

Several methods of plant transformation collectively referred to asdirect gene transfer have been developed as an alternative toAgrobacterium-mediated transformation. A generally applicable method ofplant transformation is microprojectile-mediated transformation whereinDNA is carried on the surface of microprojectiles measuring 1 μm to 4μm. The expression vector is introduced into plant tissues with abiolistic device that accelerates the microprojectiles to speeds of 300m/s to 600 m/s which is sufficient to penetrate plant cell walls andmembranes. Russell et al., 12 Plant Cell Rep. 165 (1993); Aragao et al.,20 Plant Mol. Biol. 357 (1992); Aragao et al., 12 Plant Cell Rep. 483(1993); Aragao, 93 Theor. Appl. Genet. 142 (1996); Kim & Minamikawa, 117Plant Sci. 131 (1996); Sanford et al., 5 Part. Sci. Technol. 27 (1987);Sanford, 6 Trends Biotech. 299 (1988); Klein et al., 6 Bio/technol. 559(1988); Sanford, 7 Physiol. Plant, 206 (1990); Klein et al., 10Bio/technol. 268 (1992).

Methods for physical delivery of DNA to plants are also known in theart. See, e.g., Zhang et al., 9 Bio/technol. 996 (1991) (sonication);Deshayes et al., 4 EMBO J. 2731 (1985) (liposomes); Christou et al., 84PNAS 3962 (1987) (spheroplast NHW11915); Hain et al., 199 Mol. Gen.Genet. 161 (1985) (CaCl₂ precipitation); Draper et al., 23 Plant CellPhysiol. 451 (1982) (polyvinyl alcohol or poly-L-ornithine); Saker etal., 40 Biologia Plantarum, 507 (1997/98) (electroporation ofprotoplasts). Additional methods include, but are not limited to,expression vectors introduced into plant tissues using a direct genetransfer method, such as microprojectile-mediated delivery with abiolistic device, DNA injection, electroporation, and the like.Following transformation, expression of the above-described selectablemarker genes may allow for preferential selection of transformed cells,tissues or plants, using regeneration and selection methods well-knownin the art. See, e.g., WO 2013185184.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used forproducing a transgenic line. The transgenic line can then be crossedwith another (non-transgenic, mutated, or transformed) line in order toproduce a new transgenic canola line. Alternatively, a genetic traitengineered into a particular hybrid Brassica, such as B. napus or B.juncea, using well-known transformation techniques, can be introducedinto another line using traditional crossing, backcrossing, and selfingtechniques that are also well-known in the plant breeding arts. Forexample, a backcrossing approach can be used to move an engineered traitfrom a public, non-elite inbred line into an elite inbred line, or froman inbred line containing a foreign gene in its genome into an inbredline or lines which do not contain that gene. As used herein, “crossing”can refer to a simple X by Y cross, or the process of backcrossing,depending on the context.

When the term “NS-B50027-4 plant” is used in the context of the presentembodiments, this also includes any gene conversions of that line. Theterm “gene converted plant” refers to those NS-B50027-4 plants that aredeveloped by backcrossing, genetic engineering, or mutation, whereinessentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of a variety are recovered in addition to the one ormore genes transferred into the NS-B50027-4-derived line via abackcrossing technique, genetic engineering, or mutation. Backcrossingmethods can be used with the present embodiments to improve or introducea characteristic into the plant variety. The term “backcrossing” as usedherein refers to the repeated crossing of hybrid progeny back to therecurrent parent, i.e., backcrossing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or moretimes, to the recurrent parent. The parental plant that contributes thegene(s) for the desired characteristic is termed the “nonrecurrent” or“donor parent.” This terminology refers to the fact that thenonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcross protocol andtherefore does not recur. The parental Brassica or canola plant intowhich the gene or genes from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred isknown as the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol. Poehlman & Sleper, 1994; Fehr, 1993. In a typicalbackcross protocol, the original variety of interest (recurrent parent)is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent) that carries thegene of interest to be transferred. The resulting progeny from thiscross are then crossed again to the recurrent parent and the process isrepeated until a canola or Brassica plant is obtained whereinessentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered in the convertedplant, in addition to the transferred gene(s) from the nonrecurrentparent. Accordingly, one or two loci from NS-B50027-4 can be transferredinto another canola or Brassica line.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a trait or characteristic in the original line.To accomplish this, a gene of the recurrent parent is modified orsubstituted with the desired gene from the nonrecurrent parent, whileretaining essentially all of the rest of the desired genetic, andtherefore the desired physiological and morphological characteristics ofthe original parent line. The choice of the particular nonrecurrentparent will depend on the purpose of the backcross. A primary purpose ofintrogression is to add some commercially desirable, agronomicallyimportant trait to the plant. The exact backcrossing protocol willdepend on the characteristic or trait being altered to determine anappropriate testing protocol. Although backcrossing methods aresimplified when the characteristic being transferred is a dominantallele, a recessive allele may also be transferred. In this instance itmay be necessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if thedesired characteristic has been successfully transferred.

Genetic traits may be identified that are not regularly selected in thedevelopment of a new line, but that can be improved by backcrossingtechniques. Such traits may or may not be transgenic. Examples of thesetraits include, but are not limited to, male sterility, modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism, herbicide resistance, resistance for bacterial,fungal, or viral disease, insect resistance, enhanced nutritionalquality, industrial usage, yield stability, and yield enhancement. Thesegenes are generally inherited through the nucleus. See, e.g., U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,969,212; 7,164,059.

Additionally, reproduction of the inbred line NS-B50027-4 can occur bytissue culture and regeneration. The term “tissue culture” indicates acomposition comprising isolated cells of the same or a different type ora collection of such cells organized into parts of a plant. Exemplarytypes of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, meristematic cells, andplant cells that can generate tissue culture that are intact in plantsor parts of plants, such as leaves, pollen, embryos, roots, root tips,anthers, pistils, flowers, seeds, petioles, suckers, and the like. Meansfor preparing and maintaining plant tissue culture are well known in theart. Tissue culture of various tissues of canola and regeneration ofplants therefrom is well-known. See, e.g., Teng et al., 27 HortSci. 1030(1992); Teng et al., 28 HortSci. 669 (1993); Zhang et al., 46 J. Genet.Breeding 287 (1992); Webb et al., 38 Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult. 77(1994); Curtis et al., 45 J. Exp. Bot. 1441 (1994); Nagata et al., 125J. Am. Soc'y Hort. Sci. 669 (2000); Ibrahim, et al., 28 Plant CellTissue Organ Cult. 139 (1992); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,185; 5,973,234;5,977,445; 8,816,111. Tissue culture as well as microspore culture forregeneration of canola plants can be accomplished successfully. SeeChuong et al. 4 Plant Cell Rep. 4 (1985); Barsby et al., 5 Plant CellRep. 101 (1986); Kartha et al., 31 Physiol. Plant 217 (1974);Narasimhulu et al., 7 Plant Cell Rep. 104 (1988); Swanson, 6 Meth.Molec. Biol. 159 (1990); Cell Culture Tech. & Canola Improvement, 66 J.Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 455 (1989). It is clear from the literature that thestate of the art is such that these methods of obtaining plants are usedroutinely with a high rate of success. Thus, another aspect of thepresent embodiments provides cells which upon growth and differentiationproduce canola plants having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of inbred transgenic line NS-B50027-4.

Generally, when the transgene is introduced into a plant throughtraditional crossing, its insertion site in the plant genome and itsflanking regions are not changed. An “insertion region” refers to theregion corresponding to a region of at least 40 base pairs, such as atleast 100 base pairs, or up to more than 10,000 base pairs, encompassedby the upstream and the downstream flanking regions of a transgene inthe (untransformed) plant genome and including the insertion site (andpossible target site deletion). Taking into consideration minordifferences due to mutations within a species, an insertion region mayretain at least 85%, such as 90%, 95%, or 100% sequence identity withthe upstream and downstream flanking regions of the foreign DNA in agiven plant of that species. Insertion of the transgenic cassette intothe plant genome can sometimes be associated, however, with deletion ofplant DNA, referred to as “target site deletion.” Nevertheless,additional transgenes or other genetic manipulations can be made inNS-B50027-4 without undue experimentation; and NS-B50027-4-derivedplants can be identified as described herein.

The source material of NS-B50027-4 can be used to produce lines forhybrid seed production, for example, if it is backcrossed onto acytoplasmic male sterility source or some other source for sterilizingthe inbred line as a female. Alternatively, the line can be useddirectly. For example, B. napus line NS-B50027-4 can be crossed withanother canola plant to form a first generation population of F1 plants.The population of first generation F1 plants produced by this method isalso an embodiment. This first-generation population of F1 plantscomprises an essentially complete set of the alleles of canola lineNS-B50027-4. Typically, an F1 hybrid is considered to have all thealleles of each parent. One of ordinary skill in the art can utilizeeither breeder books or molecular methods to identify a particular F1plant produced using canola line NS-B50027-4, and any such individualplant is also encompassed by this invention. These embodiments alsocover use of these methods with transgenic or single gene conversions ofline NS-B50027-4.

Another embodiment provides a method of using canola line NS-B50027-4 inbackcrossing to a recurrent parent any number of times. Using thetransgenic methods described herein, backcrossing methods, or otherbreeding methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art, one candevelop individual plants and populations of plants that retain at least25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 79%, 80%, 81%,82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%,96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 99.5% of the genetic profile of canola lineNS-B50027-4. The percentage of the genetics retained in the progeny maybe measured by either pedigree analysis or through the use of genetictechniques such as molecular markers or electrophoresis. In pedigreeanalysis, on average 50% of the starting germplasm would be passed tothe progeny line after one cross to another line, 25% after anothercross to a different line, and so on. Molecular markers could also beused to confirm and/or determine the pedigree of the progeny line.

A specific method for producing a line derived from canola lineNS-B50027-4 is as follows. One of ordinary skill in the art crossescanola line NS-B50027-4 with another canola plant, such as anelite/isogenic line. The F1 seed derived from this cross is grown toform a homogeneous population. The F1 seed contains 50% of the allelesfrom canola line NS-B50027-4 and 50% of the alleles of the other plant.The F1 seed is grown and allowed to self, thereby forming F2 seed. Onaverage, the F2 seed has derived 50% of its alleles from lineNS-B50027-4 and 50% from the other canola plant, but various individualplants from the population have a much greater percentage of theiralleles derived from event NS-B50027-4. Wang et al., 40 Crop Sci. 659(2000); Bernardo et al., 102 Theor. Appl. Genet. 986 (2001). As used inthis context, the term population refers to a statisticallyrepresentative sample. The F2 seed is grown and selection of plants madebased on visual observation or measurement of traits. The traits usedfor selection may be the canola line NS-B50027-4 trait of high DHAproduction in seeds of the canola. The event NS-B50027-4-derived progenythat exhibits the desired NS-B50027-4-derived trait is selected and eachplant is harvested separately. This F3 seed from each plant is grown inindividual rows and allowed to self. Then, selected rows or plants fromthe rows are harvested and threshed individually. The selections areagain based on visual observation of plant phenotype, or measurementsfor desirable traits of the plants, such as the desirableNS-B50027-4-derived trait. The process of growing and selection isrepeated any number of times until an inbred NS-B50027-4-derived canolaplant is obtained.

NS-B50027-4-derived canola plant contains desirable traits derived fromcanola line NS-B50027-4, some of which may not have been expressed bythe other canola plant to which canola line NS-B50027-4 was crossed andsome of which may have been expressed by both canola lines but are nowat a level equal to or greater than the level expressed in NS-B50027-4.

NS-B50027-4-derived canola plants have, on average, 50% of their genesderived from NS-B50027-4, but various individual plants from thepopulation have a much greater percentage of their alleles derived fromNS-B50027-4. The breeding process, of crossing, self-pollination, andselection is repeated to produce another population ofNS-B50027-4-derived canola plants with, on average, 25% of their genesderived from canola line NS-B50027-4, but various individual plants fromthe population have a much greater percentage of their alleles derivedfrom NS-B50027-4. Another embodiment of the invention is an inbredNS-B50027-4-derived canola plant that has received the desirableNS-B50027-4-derived trait of high DHA.

The previous example can be modified in numerous ways, for instanceselection may or may not occur at every self-pollinated generation,selection may occur before or after the actual self-pollination processoccurs, or individual selections may be made by harvesting individualpods, plants, rows or plots at any point during the breeding processdescribed. In addition, doubled-haploid breeding methods may be used atany step in the process. The population of plants produced at each andany generation of self-pollination is also an embodiment of the presentembodiments, and each such population would consist of plants containingapproximately 50% of its genes from canola line NS-B50027-4, 25% of itsgenes from canola line NS-B50027-4 in the second cycle of crossing,selfing, and selection, 12.5% of its genes from canola line NS-B50027-4in the third cycle of crossing, selfing, and selection, and so on.

Another embodiment is the method of obtaining a homozygousNS-B50027-4-derived canola plant by crossing canola line NS-B50027-4with another canola plant and applying doubled-haploid methods to the F1seed or F1 plant or to any generation of canola line NS-B50027-4obtained by the selfing of this cross. Pedigree breeding is usedcommonly for the improvement of self-pollinating crops or inbred linesof cross-pollinating crops. Two parents which possess favorable,complementary traits are crossed to produce an F1. An F2 population isproduced by selfing one or several F1's or by intercrossing two F1's(sib mating). Selection of the best individuals is usually begun in theF2 population. Then, beginning in the F3, the best individuals in thebest families are selected. Replicated testing of families, or hybridcombinations involving individuals of these families, often follows inthe F4 generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traitswith low heritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F6 andF7), the best lines or mixtures of phenotypically similar lines aretested for potential release as new cultivars.

Still further, the present embodiments are directed to methods forproducing NS-B50027-4-derived canola plants by crossing canola lineNS-B50027-4 with a canola plant and growing the progeny seed, andrepeating the crossing with the growing steps with theNS-B50027-4-derived canola plant from 1 to 2 times, 1 to 3 times, 1 to 4times, or 1 to 5 times, and selfing any number of times after the first,second, third, fourth, or fifth cross. Mass and recurrent selections canbe used to improve populations of either self- or cross-pollinatingcrops. A genetically variable population of heterozygous individuals iseither identified or created by intercrossing several different parents.The best plants are selected based on individual superiority,outstanding progeny, or excellent combining ability. The selected plantsare intercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles ofselection are continued. This process can be used to combine NS-B50027-4with other LC-PUFA transgenic lines, effectively increasing the copynumber in a homozygous line to increase LC-PUFA production in the seed.This technique is advantageous to introduce transgenes to vigorous linesthat are not amenable to transformation, or where transgenic loci areknown to reside in chromosomes different than those of NS-B50027-4, forexample, transgenic locus in A06 can be combined with the NS-B50027-4loci A02 and A05. A homozygous line from such a cross includes sixcopies of transgenic inserts. If gene silencing does not suppressexpression to an unmanageable effect, LC-PUFA production may besubstantially increased. Indeed, a homozygous F4 experimental linecomprising six transgenic loci (Full Single×NS-B50027-4) produced about25% DHA (wt. % of total fatty acid in seed).

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror line that is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to betransferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and thedesirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After the initialcross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent areselected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent.The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrentparent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from thedonor parent.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F2 individuals. The number of plants in a population declineswith each generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or someplants to produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F2plants originally sampled in the population will be represented by aprogeny when generation advance is completed.

A further embodiment provides a single-gene conversion of NS-B50027-4. Agene conversion occurs when DNA sequences are introduced throughtraditional (non-transformation) breeding techniques, such asbackcrossing. DNA sequences, whether naturally occurring or transgenes,may be introduced using these traditional breeding techniques. Desiredtraits transferred through this process include, but are not limited to,fertility modification, fatty acid profile modification, othernutritional enhancements, industrial enhancements, disease resistance,insect resistance, herbicide resistance and yield enhancements. Thetrait of interest is transferred from the donor parent to the recurrentparent, in this case, the canola plant disclosed herein. Single genetraits may result from the transfer of either a dominant allele or arecessive allele. Selection of progeny containing the trait of interestis done by direct selection for a trait associated with a dominantallele. Selection of progeny for a trait that is transferred via arecessive allele requires growing and self-crossing (selfing) the firstbackcross to determine which plants carry the recessive alleles.Recessive traits may require additional progeny testing in successivebackcross generations to determine the presence of the gene of interest.Along with selection for the trait of interest, progeny are selected forthe phenotype of the recurrent parent. It should be understood thatoccasionally additional polynucleotide sequences or genes aretransferred along with the single gene conversion trait of interest. Aprogeny containing at least 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 99.5% of thegenes from the recurrent parent, the canola plant disclosed herein, pluscontaining the gene-conversion trait, is considered to be a geneconversion of NS-B50027-4. When a trait is controlled by two genes(e.g., some disease resistance), selection is done for two genes; and soon. A specific aspect of the embodiment described herein provides foruse of the four-gene segregant (four-gene locus inserted in chromosomeA02) of NS-B50027-4 to increase LC-PUFA production in another transgenicplant.

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits intocanola varieties. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificiallyinduced can be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. Thegoal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for adesired characteristic. Mutation rates can be increased by manydifferent means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissueculture conditions, radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons,Beta radiation, or ultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such asbase analogs like 5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents (suchas sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines,sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine,nitrous acid, or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed throughmutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasmby traditional breeding techniques. See, e.g., Fehr, PRINCIPLES CULTIVARDEVEL. (Macmillan Pub'l Co., 1993). For example, mutation could be usedto increase the production of DPA in NS-B50027-4 by disruptingexpression of the Δ4-desaturase transgene.

It should be understood that the canola line of the present embodimentscan, through routine manipulation of cytoplasmic genes, nuclear genes,or other factors, be produced in a male-sterile form as described in thereferences discussed earlier. Such embodiments are also within the scopeof the present claims. The present embodiments thus provide F1 hybridseed and plants produced by the use of canola line NS-B50027-4.Accordingly, another embodiment provides a method of producing aDHA-containing canola seed by introgressing the DHA trait of NS-B50027-4into an elite Brassica line that is male sterile; introgressing the DHAtrait of NS-B50027-4 into a second elite Brassica line that is fertile;crossing the two lines to obtain a hybrid progeny; cultivating the seedof the hybrid progeny; harvesting the grain produced by the cultivatedhybrid progeny. An additional step of extracting the oil from theprogeny of the hybrid seed provides DHA-containing canola oil.

There are many laboratory-based techniques available for the analysis,comparison and characterization of plant genotype; among these areIsozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms(RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily PrimedPolymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting(DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), AmplifiedFragment Length polymorphisms (AFLP), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs)(also referred to as Microsatellites), and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs). Example 3, herein, provides KASP assays foranalysis of NS-B50027-4 and progeny derived therefrom. Primers selectedfrom those provided in SEQ ID NO:1 to SEQ ID NO:90 may also be adaptedfor other sequence-based techniques.

Isozyme Electrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determinegenetic composition. See Shoemaker & Olsen, in GENETIC MAPS: LOCUS MAPSOF COMPLEX GENOMES, at 6.131 (O'Brien, Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Lab.Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1993) (molecular genetic linkage mapconsisted of 25 linkage groups with ˜365 RFLP, 11 RAPD, 3 classicalmarkers, and 4 isozyme loci); see also Shoemaker, in DNA-BASED MARKERSIN PLANTS, 299 (Phillips &Vasil, Eds., Kluwer Acad. Press, Dordrecht,Netherlands, 1994).

SSR technology is currently an efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci can be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus can be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. See, e.g.,Diwan & Cregan, 95 Theor. Appl. Genet. 22 (1997). SNPs may also be usedto identify the unique genetic composition of the invention and progenyvarieties retaining that unique genetic composition. Various molecularmarker techniques may be used in combination to enhance overallresolution. Molecular markers, which include markers identified throughthe use of techniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, RFLP, RAPD,AP-PCR, DAF, SCAR, AFLP, SSR, and SNP, may be used in plant breeding.One use of molecular markers is quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping.QTL mapping is the use of markers that are known to be closely linked toalleles that have measurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selectionin the breeding process is based upon the accumulation of markers linkedto the positive effecting alleles or the elimination of the markerslinked to the negative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers can also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest can be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers can also beused to select toward the genome of the recurrent parent and against themarkers of the donor parent. This procedure attempts to minimize theamount of genome from the donor parent that remains in the selectedplants. It can also be used to reduce the number of crosses back to therecurrent parent needed in a backcrossing program. The use of molecularmarkers in the selection process is often called genetic marker enhancedselection or marker-assisted selection. Molecular markers may also beused to identify and exclude certain sources of germplasm as parentalvarieties or ancestors of a plant by providing a means of trackinggenetic profiles through crosses.

Thus, it is clear that the state of the art that these methods ofobtaining plants are “conventional” in that they are used routinely andhave a high rate of success. The utility of canola line NS-B50027-4 alsoextends to crosses with other species. Commonly, suitable species are ofthe family Brassicacea. Accordingly, any and all methods using canolaelite event NS-B50027-4 in breeding are encompassed by the presentembodiments, including selfing, pedigree breeding, backcrosses, hybridproduction and crosses to populations. All plants and populations ofplants produced using canola line elite event NS-B50027-4 as a parentare within the scope of these embodiments, including those developedfrom varieties derived from canola line NS-B50027-4. Unique molecularmarker profiles or breeding records can be used by those of ordinaryskill in the art to identify the progeny lines or populations of progenyderived from canola line NS-B50027-4. A particular aspect of the presentembodiments provides the unexpected advantage in LC-PUFA production intransgenic plants into which the A02 locus segregated from NS-B50027-4have been introduced by conventional breeding techniques.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Characterization and Selection of Line NS-B50027-4 inExperimental Field Trials

A difficult task in plant breeding is the identification of individualplants that are genetically superior, because for most traits the truegenotypic value may be masked by other confounding plant traits orenvironmental factors. One method for identifying a superior plant is toobserve its performance relative to other experimental plants and to oneor more widely grown standard cultivars. If a single observation isinconclusive, replicated observations provide a better estimate of thegenetic worth.

Plants initially identified as B0050-027-18 were selected based on asingle-seed descent procedure by harvesting a sample of one seed perplant, and using the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. Ingeneral, the number of plants in a population declines each generationdue to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plants to produce atleast one seed. As a result, not all of the plants originally sampled inthe population are represented by a progeny when generation advance iscompleted. Moreover, original transgenic events compound the complexityof inheritance, such that predictions are often inaccurate regarding thegenotype or phenotype of progeny. Thus, experimental plants wereself-pollinated and selected for type for successive generations until aparticular line became homozygous, exhibited selected traits withexcellent agronomic properties, and produced a uniform population oftrue-breeding progeny. More specifically, the experimental lines wereselected following a breeding re-selection program at the NuseedInnovation Centre (NIC), Horsham (Victoria, Australia). Selection andadvancement of candidate lines was based on:

-   -   (a) Copy number of the T-DNA insert;    -   (b) Segregation pattern of DHA expression;    -   (c) Homozygosity; (based on fatty acid phenotype and genotype);    -   (d) Production of LC-ω3-DHA; and    -   (e) Suitable agronomic traits for crop production, based on        progeny testing at locations over winter and summer.

In Australia, canola is grown across the southern dryland cropping zoneand mostly within winter-dominant rainfall environments. Australianproduction is mostly from spring type canola cultivars that have lowvernalization requirements. In general, Australian cultivars typicallyretain some minor delay in the onset of flowering and have relativelyhigh plant vigor or biomass production over winter months. The canolacrop in Australia is typically sown from April to May after the firstmajor rainfall event and harvested from October to December. Yield isinfluenced primarily by available water during the growing season andwater-use efficiency of the cultivar. Major pathotype gene resistance toblackleg disease, caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, can differentiatecultivars in terms of seedling survival and stem cankering, butAustralian cultivars are considered generally to have high resistancewhen grown under recommended agronomic practices. Seed developmentfollows a growing season of five to seven months, and occurs in latespring or early summer Apart from water availability, yield can beaffected significantly by large temperature extremes (<0° C. to >35° C.)that may cause abortion of seed and seed pods.

As noted herein, transformation of canola germplasm was undertaken withan eight-gene construct (seven enzymes for the DHA biosynthetic pathwayand a marker) that resulted in seed-specific accumulation of LC-ω3 fattyacids, in particular DHA. Broadly speaking, the phenotype wascharacterized by product quality (PQ) (omega-3 fatty acids produced),although plants carried a marker gene (MG). Transformed material wasreselected for locus homozygosity, expression of DHA in the seed, andagronomic traits and yield potential suitable for commercial production.Test lines were derived from transformed plantlets (var. AV Jade).Experimental seed was bulked by allowing plants to self-pollinate inisolation (i.e., insect-proof tents).

Three T2 generation-derived sibs from a transgenic event were comparedwith eight other commercial canola cultivars (lines) for a range ofimportant agronomic and seed traits across eight experimental fieldlocations (sites) in Australia (subsequent field trials in Australia andCanada are described further below. The eight Australian sitesrepresented a wide range of environmental yield potentials as indicatedby the range in site mean site yield (i.e., AV Garnet: 0.7 to 2.4 t/ha).Transgenic sibs were represented by test lines: NS-B50027-4 (T3),B0050-027-18-36-13 (T4), and B0050-027-18-105-13 (T4). Additionally,NS-B50027-4 was grown in experimental plots in Canada, and agronomic andseed traits compared with non-transgenic canola lines. AdditionalNS-B50027-4 T3 and T5 generations were also compared with non-transgeniclines and two transgenic segregants out-crossed from NS-B50027-4, eachcarrying the different transgenic loci (i.e., segregated A05 and A02)(see Example 2). Agronomic trait variation of the test lines wascomparable to that of the commercial cultivars evaluated across allenvironments tested. This conclusion was supported by the finding thatthe grain yield of the highest yielding test line was statisticallycomparable, based on an across-site analysis (MET-REML), with thehighest yielding commercial cultivars. Furthermore, for each site thehighest yielding test line was significantly higher yielding than atleast one cultivar, with the exception of one site where there were nosignificant differences. The test lines produced seed with slightlylower percent seed oil and with varied fatty acid composition; but thisdid not impact yield or agronomic performance. The expression of LC ω3DHA fatty acid was highly stable across the tested environments.

The control cultivars (commercial breeding lines) used for comparisonprovided an agronomically diverse (e.g., plant habit, phenology) rangeof well-adapted (i.e., high but varying yield potential and oil content)cultivars grown widely in the cropping zone. These cultivars are allopen-pollinated and described and extensively evaluated in, for example,the Australian National Variety Testing Program and Regional annual cropreports. See “nvtonline” website. Additionally, variation for plantdisease resistance is well-described for blackleg in Australia. Van DeWouw et al., 67 Crop & Pasture Sci. 273 (2015). In Australia, blacklegdisease can cause yield losses of up to 90%. Marcroft & Bluett, Agricul.Notes, AG1352, Victoria, Dept. Primary Indus. (2008). Genetic variationamong commercial cultivars for specific seed fatty acid composition andseed oil content has been documented over time. See Seberry et al.,Quality of Australian Canola 2011 (Australian Oilseeds Fed., 2012).Plants from the cultivar AV Jade were transformed to produce thetransgenic T0, and hence AV Jade can be considered a non-transformedisoline of the transgenic event described herein.

Phenotypic variation for test lines was characterized by plantemergence, plant vigor, flowering time, flowering duration, plantheight, seed shattering, lodging resistance, blackleg severity, plantharvest count, grain yield, grain moisture, percent seed oil, and fattyacid content, particularly seed LC-ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid(LC-PUFA), specifically concerning yield of EPA, DPA, and DHA. For allthe traits measured, restricted estimated likelihood analysis wasundertaken using ASREML in statistical software GenStat. Gilmour et al.,ASREML user guide, release 3.0, Biometric Bulletin (3) (VSV Intl,Waterhouse Stm Hemel Hempstead, UK, 2009). A linear mixed modelstatistical method was used to account for field spatial variation asextensively described and used for field plant breeding and geneticsresearch. Cullis & Gleeson, 47 Biometrics 1449 (1991); Smith et al., 57Biometrics 1138 (2001); Welham et al., Analysis of linear mixed modelsby ASReml-R with Applications in Plant Breeding: Course Notes (VSVInt'l, Waterhouse Stm Hemel Hempstead, UK, 2013). A Meta-REMLacross-site analysis was further undertaken for grain yield (t/ha) todetermine the across-site Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) forlines tested.

More frequent and detailed measurements were taken from allenvironments. Plant emergence establishment counts were made on tworandom, one square meter quadrants, in each plot, fourteen days aftersowing. The number of plants emerged per square meter was analyzed as atrait variate. A plant emergence score based on a visual estimate ofaverage plant density per plot was also recorded for each plot acrossall sites and analyzed as a trait variate (1: Low=0-5 plants/m²; 5:Moderate=25-30 plants/m²; 9: High=Δ5-50 plants/m²). Plant emergencebased on number per square meter and plant emergence score variedsignificantly (P<0.05) between lines for all eight sites. Statisticallyvariation for plant emergence of the transgenic lines was significantly(P<0.05) within the range expressed by the cultivars across allexperiments. Plant vigor was based on biomass, scored on a 1 (low: <10%leaf area coverage of plot ground) to 9 (high: >90% leaf coverage ofplot ground cover) scale, and analyzed. Plant vigor varied significantly(P<0.05) between lines for six of seven sites. The site plant mean vigorscore was 6 (60% to 70% leaf coverage of plot ground) at all eightsites; and variation was relatively consistent, indicating lowenvironmental effects for this trait. Statistically, the variation forplant vigor for the test lines was significantly within the rangeexpressed by the cultivars across all locations.

Flowering time was recorded as number of days from sowing to when 50% ofplants in the experimental plot had at least one open flower. This wasrecorded for each plot across all trials and analyzed as a traitvariate. Flowering varied significantly (P<0.05) between lines for allsites. The site mean flowering time varied from 99 to 110 days and is anindication of environmental differences across experimental sites forthis trait. Statistically the variation for flowering time of thetransgenic lines was significantly within the range expressed by thecultivars across all experiments.

Flowering duration was the calculated difference between flowering timeand end of flowering time (expressed as number of days). This wascalculated for each plot across all trials and analyzed as a traitvariate: Flowering duration=Flowering end day−Flowering time (50%). Thesite mean flowering time varied from 24 to 30 days which is shorter thanaverage and reflected conditions that prevailed due seed filling.Statistically the variation for flowering duration of the transgeniclines was significantly within the range expressed by the cultivarsacross all experiments.

Plants at harvest based on plants per square meter varied significantlybetween lines for all eight sites. The variation for plant number atharvest time for the transgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05) withinthe range expressed by the cultivars across all plantings and locations.The number of plants at emergence was significantly correlated to numberof plants recorded at harvest. Some of the calculated survival percentexceeded 100%, which reflected slow seedling emergence in two cultivars(ATR Wahoo and AV Jade): not all seedlings had emerged at the time plantemergence counts were recorded.

Plant height at physiological maturity was measured from base to growingtip in the center of the plot. The center of the plot was used to avoidconfounding effects likely associated with inter-plot spatial area (edgeeffects). This trait was recorded for each plot across all trials andanalyzed as a trait variate. Plant height at maturity (cm), variedsignificantly (P<0.05) between lines for all sites. The site mean plantheight varied from 63 cm to 105 cm, and indicated environmentaldifferences across experimental sites for this trait. The variation forheight at maturity for the transgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05)within the range expressed by the cultivars across all experiments.

Seed shattering (sometimes referred to as pod shattering) at maturitywas analyzed using seed shattering count per ⅛th of a square metersrecorded over a two-week period. This was undertaken by placing twotrays between sown rows and beneath the canopy for each plot in alllocations, and analyzed as a trait variate. A seed shattering score(based on a scale of 1 [nil] to 9 [high: +40]) was also recorded at onesite based on the number of seed observed on the ground just prior toharvest and analyzed as a trait variate. Seed shattering based on numberof seeds on the ground at harvest varied significantly (P<0.05) betweenlines for four of eight sites. The site mean seed shattering numbervaried from 3 to 15 (per ⅛th of a square meter), and indicated lowlevels of shattering across all sites. The seed shattering score at oneof the sites also varied significantly between lines, and was closelycorrelated with the across-site mean seed shatter count. This indicatesthat shattering recorded as a score was a good predictor of seedshattering. Statistically, the variation for seed shattering based onseed counts and score for the transgenic lines was significantly withinthe range expressed by the cultivars across all experiments.

Lodging resistance was recorded as a 1 (resistant) to 9 (susceptible),scored on the basis of angle of plant lean from the base of the plant atmaturity. There was no statistically significant variation for plantlodging. The lack of variation for this trait is likely to be associatedwith below average rainfall at late pod fill stage.

Blackleg leaf severity symptoms representative of Leptosphaeria maculansand Leptosphaeria biglobosa were recorded as a 1 (low: <5%) to 9(high: >40%) score for one replicate across five sites. Not all plotswere scored, due lack of observable variation. Symptoms associated withcankering and stem breakage were not observed. Blackleg disease leafsymptoms observed were at very low levels at all eight sites. One sitewas sown using bare seed (seed untreated with fungicide). There were norelative differences in plant emergence amongst lines tested betweenthis site and other sites treated with seed fungicide. Leaf symptoms arenot always predictive of the degree of stem cankering caused by L.maculans (the main cause of yield loss and basis for resistance ratingin Australia, see Sosnowski et al., 33 Australian Plant Pathol. 401(2004)). Several studies have evaluated blackleg resistance on the basisof pathogen infection on cotyledons, leaves, stem (canker) and plantsurvival under field conditions. Given the lack of cankering and stembreakage the canola lines can be considered resistant to the presentdisease pressure for the purposes described herein.

Plant harvest count was estimated by counting plants in two,one-square-meter quadrants within each plot in all eight sites. Theaverage of both quadrants was then used to estimate the number of plantsper square meter, and analyzed as a trait a variate. Plant survivalpercent (%) was calculated by expressing site means for plant count as a% of site means for plant emergence count: Plant survival %=(Plantharvest count×100)/Plant Emergence count.

Grain was harvested using a plot harvester when experimental seed wasphysiologically mature. Harvest direction was kept consistent (i.e.,front to back range for each row) for each trial to avoid harvestdirection errors. Dry grain weight for each plot was determined andconverted to units of t/ha based on plot area, and analyzed as a traitvariate.

The grain moisture at harvest and in a lab sample was recorded andanalyzed as a trait variate. A hand held moisture meter was used toanalyze bulk samples directly at point of harvest in the experimentalfield. Percent moisture was also determined using an oven drying methodbased on Australian Oilseed Federation (AOF) method 4-1.5. This methodinvolved oven-drying a 5 g sample in open tins at 130° C. for 1 hr. Thesamples were cooled in a desiccator for 40 min and weighed and percentmoisture determined as a percent loss of mass. Grain moisture at harvest(as percent) varied significantly between line treatments for all eightsites. The site mean grain moisture at harvest varied from 9% to 12%which indicated that seeds were harvested at a similar grain stage.Statistically, the variation for grain moisture at harvest for thetransgenic lines was significantly within the range expressed by thecultivars across all experiments. The grain moisture percent at harvestwas also correlated with flowering time, such that seed oflater-flowering lines (i.e., ATR Wahoo and Monola515TT) hadsignificantly higher grain moisture % at harvest time across all sites.Laboratory seed moistures varied significantly between lines across allsites. The differences between lines and across sites were very low,however, and averaged ˜7%. This indicates no confounding effects of seedstorage. The variation for seed moisture in the laboratory for thetransgenic line was significantly (P<0.05) within the range expressed bynon-transgenic lines.

The seed oil content (%) was analyzed using Spinlock NMR spectrometry onseed adjusted to 6% moisture. Briefly, samples of 5 g to 10 g of seedwere weighed into an NMR tube and analyzed by the NMR spectrometer. Seedoil results were determined by a software calibration created originallyusing twenty reference samples of known percent oil content, asdetermined by gravimetric oil extraction. The seed oil content variedsignificantly (P<0.05) between lines across all eight experiment sites.The site mean seed oil percent varied from 37.0% to 41.5%, which wasgenerally below the typical average for the sown environments and was alikely result of below-average rainfall and higher-than-averagetemperatures experienced during the seed filling period. The relativeline differences were very consistent across sites. The variation forseed oil content for the transgenic lines was slightly lower comparedwith the non-transgenic lines across all sites: on average by about 2%,which may offer a target for genetic improvement. The lower oil contentmay not be linked genetically to the transgenic event, but may be theresult of transforming a lower oil content cultivar, i.e., AV Jade.

A summary of the characterization of the agronomic traits of eventNS-B50027-4 compared with those of non-transgenic cultivars gatheredduring experimental cultivations is shown in Table 2 (analysis REML; Fpr<0.001 Sig for all traits):

TABLE 2 Grain yield (t/ha) and agronomic measurement data for canolanon-transgenic cultivars and experimental transgenic test lines acrosseight environments in 2015 Harvest Emer- Plant Emer- Plant Plant GreenTrait: gence Count gence Vigor Start of End of Flowering Height atShattered Grain Moisture Line Plant Plant Score Score FloweringFlowering Duration Maturity Seed Yield at harvest name per m² per m²(1-9) (1-9) Day Day Days cm No. t/ha % ATR Bonito 18.2 16.0 7.3 6.8103.8 131.2 27.5 90.0 13.0 1.35 10.6 ATR Gem 17.9 16.6 7.1 6.7 105.3133.6 28.2 91.0 10.9 1.21 13.0 ATR Stingray 17.6 17.3 7.1 5.9 100.9129.7 28.8 82.7 14.4 1.34 8.2 ATR Wahoo 11.2 11.8 5.9 6.1 108.2 136.027.3 92.3 10.7 1.12 18.7 AV Garnet 18.6 16.3 7.4 7.2 104.4 132.8 28.6102.1 15.0 1.31 10.2 AV Jade 7.8 12.5 5.0 4.8 106.7 134.8 28.3 89.9 9.80.96 9.9 AV Zircon 19.0 15.7 7.3 7.0 104.4 132.0 27.6 98.7 22.5 1.31 9.5Monola 515TT 20.3 18.5 7.5 5.8 108.6 136.1 27.3 87.9 12.3 1.24 12.4NS-B50027-4 18.1 15.7 7.1 5.9 107.8 135.0 27.2 88.2 10.5 1.17 11.0B0050-027-18-36-13 22.5 20.3 7.2 5.9 106.6 134.4 27.9 76.4 10.3 0.9510.8 B-050-27-18-105-13 22.6 19.8 7.6 5.4 108.5 135.8 27.3 70.6 8.9 0.9211.1 Min Cultivar Value 7.8 11.8 5.0 4.8 100.9 129.7 27.3 82.7 9.8 0.968.2 NS-B50027-4 18.1 15.7 7.1 5.9 107.8 135.0 27.2 88.2 10.5 1.17 11.0Max Cultivar Value 20.3 18.5 7.5 7.2 108.6 136.1 28.8 102.1 22.5 1.3518.7 Mean 17.6 16.4 7.0 6.2 104.7 133.2 28.5 90.0 12.0 1.14 11.0 VAR0.67 0.98 0.02 0.01 0.04 0.07 0.13 1.35 2.74 0.00 0.15 LSD 1.62 1.950.28 0.21 0.41 0.54 0.71 2.30 3.30 0.11 0.78 CV % 4.6 6.0 2.0 1.7 0.20.2 1.3 1.3 13.8 5.0 3.6

Fatty Acids were determined using solvent extraction, followed bysimultaneous saponification and methylation, and analysis by GC-FID.Briefly, this involved crushing the seed samples and extracting the oilinto solvent from a crushed-seed subsample. The solvent was evaporatedoff under nitrogen, and an oil subsample was diluted in a new solvent.An aliquot was reacted with Meth Prep II (a saponification/methylationreagent). Samples were heated at 40° C. to speed the reaction, and theninjected on GC-FID using a BPX-70 column for fatty acid determination.Fatty acids were calculated as percent composition of the oil where thearea of each fatty acid peak was determined as a percentage of the sumof all the fatty acid peaks in the chromatogram. These estimates wereanalyzed individually as a trait variate. The percent of specific fattywas estimated for: palmitic acid; stearic acid; oleic and cis-vaccenicacids; linoleic acid; alpha linolenic acid (ALA); arachidic acid (alsoknown as eicosanoic acid) and stearidonic acid (SDA); paullinic,gondoic, and gadoleic acids; erucic acid, and eicosatetraenoic acid(ETA); eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); docosapentaenoic acid (DPA); anddocosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Table 3 presents an across-site analysis of seed fatty acid content (allvalues percent; analysis REML; F pr<0.001 Sig for all traits):

TABLE 3 Across-site analysis of seed analysis Lab Oleic ALA, Paullinic,Sum of Seed & Arachidic, Gondoic, EPA, Mois- Seed Pal- Cis- & & DPA,ture Oil mitic Stearic vaccenic Linoleic SDA Gadoleic EPA DPA DHA andDHA ATR Bonito 6.7 41.9 3.9 1.7 60.5 20.9 10.1 1.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 ATRGEM 6.8 41.5 3.7 1.7 66.3 14.9 10.2 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 ATR Stingray 6.640.8 4.3 1.8 60.6 20.5 9.7 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 ATR Wahoo 6.8 41.7 3.71.6 60.7 20.4 10.4 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 AV Garnet 7.1 40.4 3.6 1.7 9.611.8 9.7 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 AV Jade 6.7 41.0 4.0 2.2 61.0 18.7 11.2 1.00.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 AV Zircon 6.8 41.0 3.8 1.6 69.3 11.8 10.4 1.3 0.0 0.00.0 0.0 Monola 515TT 6.9 40.9 3.6 2.1 73.3 12.2 5.2 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2NS-B50027-4 6.9 37.0 4.1 2.1 45.9 8.2 20.7 3.4 0.4 1.0 8.6 9.9B0050-027-18-36-13 7.1 35.5 4.2 2.4 41.8 7.9 22.2 3.8 0.6 1.2 10.5 12.2B-050-27-18-105-13 7.2 35.3 4.1 2.4 42.0 7.7 22.1 3.9 0.5 1.2 10.3 12.0Min Cultivar Value 6.6 40.4 3.6 1.6 60.5 11.8 5.2 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0NS-B50027-4 6.9 37.0 4.1 2.1 45.9 8.2 20.7 3.4 0.4 1.0 8.6 9.9 MaxCultivar Value 7.1 41.9 4.3 2.2 73.3 20.9 11.2 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 Mean6.8 39.6 3.9 2 55 14.8 15 2.3 0.1 0.6 3.1 3.8 VAR 0.002 0.05 0.00050.0003 0.1912 0.0385 0.0475 0.0032 0.0001 0.0005 0.0248 0.0345 LSD 0.090.44 0.04 0.03 0.87 0.39 0.43 0.11 0.02 0.05 0.31 0.37 CV % 0.7 0.6 0.50.9 0.8 1.3 1.5 2.5 6.3 4.1 5.1 4.9

The percent of fatty acid in the seed present as stearic acid, asanalyzed by GC-FID varied significantly between lines across all eightsites. The site-mean percent stearic acid showed very little variationand ranged from 1.6% to 2.4%. Statistically, the variation for percentstearic acid for the transgenic line was significantly within the rangeexpressed by the non-transgenic lines across all sites.

The percent of fatty acid in the seed as oleic and cis-vaccenic acid, asanalyzed by GC-FID, varied significantly between lines across all eightsites. The site-mean percent oleic and cis-vaccenic acid varied from 60%to 73%. The variation for percent oleic and cis-vaccenic acid for thetransgenic line was significantly (P<0.05) lower than the rangeexpressed by the non-transgenic lines across all sites. This result isassociated with the transgenic insert, and does not affect commercialagronomy or grain production. Additionally, the specialty high oleic oilcultivar, Monola515 TT, produced significantly higher oleic andcis-vaccenic acid compared to other cultivars, due to single nucleotidepolymorphisms (SNPs) within the Fad gene.

The percent of fatty acid in the seed present as linoleic acid, asanalyzed using GC-FID, varied significantly among all lines across alleight sites. The mean percent linoleic acid per site ranged from 12% to21%. The variation for percent linoleic acid for the transgenic siblines derived from one T2 event (plant NS-B50027-4) was significantly(P<0.05) lower than the range expressed by the cultivars across allsites and sibs derived from other event sibs. The significant differencein linoleic acid % is likely associated with expression of transgenes. Areduction in the % linoleic acid is likely associated with thetransgenic insert, but does not affect agronomy or grain production onthe commercial scale.

The percent of fatty acid present as ALA, arachidic, and SDA variedsignificantly among all lines across all eight sites. The site mean forpercent ALA, arachidic, and SDA ranged from between 5% to 11%. Thevariation for the % ALA, arachidic, and SDA for the transgenic lines wassignificantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressed by the non-transgeniccultivars across all experiments. The significant differences seen forthis trait at some sites was associated with expression of transgenes.This result is associated with the transgenic insert, and does notaffect commercial agronomy or grain production. The specialty high oleicoil cultivar (Monola515 TT) produced significantly (P<0.05) lower % ALAcompared to other cultivars, due to SNPs within the Fad genes.

The percent of fatty acid present as paullinic, gondoic, and gadoleicacids varied significantly between lines across all eight sites. Thesite mean for percent paullinic, gondoic, and gadoleic acid ranged from1.0% to 1.5%. The variation for the percent paullinic, gondoic, andgadoleic acids for the transgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05)higher than that expressed by the non-transgenic cultivars across allexperiments. This result is associated with the transgenic insert anddoes not affect commercial agronomy or grain production.

The percent of fatty acid present as erucic acid and ETA was recorded atfive sites, and was generally close to 0%. Results associated with thetransgenic insert do not commercially affect agronomy or grainproduction.

Seed LC-ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA), specifically EPA, DPA,and DHA, was calculated as a percent for each plot sample and analyzedas a trait variate in which LC-PUFA=EPA %+DPA %+DHA %. Predicted DHA, asunits of Kg/ha, was calculated for each plot and analyzed as a traitvariate: DHA kg/ha=(Oil %×0.01)×(DHA %×0.01)×Grain yield (t/ha)×1000.Predicted LC-PUFA as units of Kg/ha was calculated for each plot as andanalyzed as a trait variate: DHA kg/ha=(Oil %×0.01)×(LC-PUFA%×0.01)×Grain yield (t/ha)×1000.

The percent of fatty acid as EPA varied significantly (P<0.05) betweenlines across all eight sites. The variation for the percent for thetransgenic line was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressed bythe non-transgenic cultivars. This result, associated with thetransgenic insert, does not affect agronomy or seed production, but,indeed, may make the seed more valuable.

The percent of fatty acid as DPA varied significantly between linesacross all sites. The variation for the percent for the transgenic lineswas significantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressed by thenon-transgenic cultivars across all sites. This result is associatedwith the transgenic insert and will not affect agronomy or grainproduction commercially.

The percent of fatty acid as DHA varied significantly (P<0.05) betweenlines across all eight sites. The variation for the percent for thetransgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressedby the non-transgenic cultivars in all locations. This result isassociated with the transgenic insert and does not affect commercialagronomy or grain production. Variance between transgenic sib lines wasused as a basis for selection.

DHA percent across sites and comparing elite event NS-B50027-4 withnon-transgenic cultivars (as determined by GC-FID) is shown in Table 4(analysis REML; F pr<0.001 Sig for all locations):

TABLE 4 Site by cultivar/elite event mean seed % DHA (C22:6n3)Across-site Line name Site: A B C D E F G H mean ATR Bonito 0.0 0.0 0.00.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0 ATR Gem 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 ATRStingray 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 ATR Wahoo 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.20.0 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.1 AV Garnet 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 AVJade 0.0 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.2 AV Zircon 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.20.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 Monola 515TT 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1NS-B50027-4 8.1 9.8 7.8 7.5 8.5 8.4 8.8 10.2 8.6 B0050-027-18-36-13 10.012.2 9.5 9.7 10.1 10.4 10.8 13.3 10.8 B-050-27-18-105-13 10.5 11.3 9.09.6 10.2 9.7 10.9 12.5 10.5 Min Cultivar Value 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00.1 0.0 0 NS-B50027-4 8.1 9.8 7.8 7.5 8.5 8.4 8.8 10.2 8.6 Max CultivarValue 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.2 Mean 3.5 3.6 3 2.49 3.7 3.563.88 4.1 VAR 0.15 0.07 0.079 0.29 0.14 0.14 0.11 0.18 SE 0.39 0.27 0.2810.53 0.37 0.37 0.33 0.42 LSD 0.78 0.54 0.6 1.1 0.75 0.73 0.65 0.84 CV %11 7.5 9.4 21.5 10 10.6 8.4 10.4

Predicted DHA expressed as Kg/ha, calculated on the basis of fatty acidprofile, seed oil percent and grain yield, varied significantly (P<0.05)between lines across all sites. The variation for the % for thetransgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressedby the non-transgenic lines across all locations. This result isassociated with the transgenic insert and does not affect commercialagronomy or grain production. Variance between transgenic sib lines wasused as a basis for selection. There was high stability of DHA, in termsof units of production per area (Kg/ha), due to low across-sitevariation for seed oil and percent DHA produced in the seed.

Predicted yield of DHA (Kg/ha) across sites and comparing elite eventNS-B50027-4 with non-transgenic cultivars is shown in Table 5 (analysisREML, F pr<0.001 Sig for all locations):

TABLE 5 Site by line mean seed predicted DHA (Kg/ha) Across- Line nameSite: A B C D E F G H site mean ATR Bonito 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 ATR Gem 0 00 0 2 2 2 1 1 ATR Stingray 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ATR Wahoo 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0AV Garnet 0 1 2 1 1 4 1 2 1 AV Jade 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 AV Zircon 0 0 0 20 4 1 0 1 Monola 515TT 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 NS-B50027-4 30 28 39 36 50 4924 41 37 B0050-027-18-36-13 25 27 41 41 52 53 24 36 37B-050-27-18-105-13 24 25 34 50 46 40 26 33 35 Min Cultivar Value 0.0 0.00.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 NS-B50027-4 30.0 28.0 39.0 36.0 50.0 49.024.0 41.0 37.0 Max Cultivar Value 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 1.0Mean 8 8 12 12 16 17 8 12 VAR 3.93 3.08 14.60 38.66 10.77 24.55 7.606.94 SE 1.98 1.75 3.81 6.20 3.28 4.79 2.75 2.63 LSD 4.0 3.5 7.6 12.4 6.69.6 5.5 5.3 CV % 23.6 22.5 33.1 53.4 20.3 29.8 34.2 22.7

Regarding seed LC-PUFA omega 3—percent EPA, DPA, and DHA (measured byHPLC)—the percent LC-PUFA varied significantly (P<0.05) between linetreatments across all eight sites. The variation for the % for thetransgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that expressedby the cultivars across all experiments. This result is associated withthe transgenic insert and does not affect agronomy or commercial grainproduction. Variance between transgenic sib lines was used as a basisfor selection. Trace levels of LC-PUFA observed in non-transgenic lineswas likely to be associated with pollen flow, seed movement, or GC-FIDerror.

Table 6 shows the percent values as determined by GC-FID (analysis REML;F pr<0.001 Sig for all locations):

TABLE 6 Site by cultivar or transgenic line: mean seed LC-PUFA (% sum ofEPA + DPA + DHA) Across-site Line name Site: A B C D E F G H mean ATRBonito 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.1 ATR Gem 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.20.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 ATR Stingray 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.2 ATRWahoo 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 AV Garnet 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.10.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 AV Jade 0.0 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.2 AV Zircon0.0 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1 Monola 515TT 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.10.2 0.0 0.2 NS-B50027-4 9.5 11.4 9.1 8.9 9.8 9.8 10.3 11.8 10.1B0050-027-18-36-13 11.7 14.2 11.0 11.4 11.8 12.2 12.7 15.3 12.5B-050-27-18-105-13 12.2 13.2 10.5 11.3 11.9 11.3 12.7 14.5 12.2 MinCultivar Value 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 NS-B50027-4 9.5 11.49.1 8.9 9.8 9.8 10.3 11.8 10.1 Max Cultivar Value 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.20.2 0.3 0.5 0.2 Mean 4.3 4.4 3.6 3.05 4.5 4.34 4.75 4.9 VAR 0.23 0.110.112 0.33 0.19 0.2 0.14 0.23 SE 0.48 0.33 0.334 0.58 0.44 0.43 0.380.48 LSD 0.95 0.66 0.7 1.2 0.87 0.87 0.76 0.96 CV % 11 7.6 9.3 18.9 9.710.3 8 9.8

Predicted LC-PUFA expressed as Kg/ha calculated on the basis of fattyacid profile, seed oil % and grain yield varied significantly (P<0.05)between treatment lines across all sites. The variation for the % forthe transgenic lines was significantly (P<0.05) higher than thatexpressed by the cultivars across all experiments. This result isassociated with the transgenic insert and does not commercially affectagronomy or grain production. Variance between transgenic sib lines wasused as a basis for selection. Trace levels in cultivar seed is likelyto be associated with pollen flow, seed movement, or HPLC error. Thereis high stability of LC-PUFA in terms of units of production per area(Kg/ha) due to low across-site variation for seed oil and percent DHAproduced in the seed. See also FIGS. 2 and 3.

Table 7 shows the predicted Kg/ha LC-PUFU (F pr<0.001 for all sites):

TABLE 7 Site by cultivar (line) mean seed predicted LC-PUFA (Kg/ha)Across-site Line name site: A B C D E F G H mean ATR Bonito 0 1 0 1 0 01 0 0 ATR Gem 1 0 0 0 2 3 3 0 1 ATR Stingray 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ATR Wahoo0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 AV Garnet 0 1 2 1 1 4 1 0 1 AV Jade 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0AV Zircon 0 0 0 2 0 4 2 0 1 Monola 515TT 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 NS-B50027-435 33 46 43 58 58 28 46 43 B0050-027-18-36-13 29 32 48 48 60 61 28 41 43B-050-27-18-105-13 28 29 40 58 53 46 30 40 41 Mean 10 10 14 14 20 20 1014 VAR 5.50 4.34 21.71 54.48 15.98 34.93 11.14 58.10 SE 2.34 2.08 4.657.36 3.99 5.71 3.33 4.04 LSD 4.7 4.2 9.3 14.7 8.0 11.4 6.7 8.1 CV % 22.621.9 33.1 51.9 20.1 28.9 33.5 54.8

Seed oil content, determined using NMR, was also tabulated for each ofthe cultivation sites, and is presented in Table 8 (units are percent;analysis REML; F pr<0.001 Sig for all sites):

TABLE 8 Site by cultivate seed oil mean oil % Across-site Line: Site: AB C D E F G H mean ATR Bonito 43.0 40.6 43.6 43.4 42.6 41.8 39.1 39.641.7 ATR Gem 43.7 40.7 43.9 42.7 42.3 40.5 37.8 39.5 41.3 ATR Stingray41.4 39.7 42.6 42.8 41.1 39.1 38.9 39.9 40.6 ATR Wahoo 43.1 41.0 43.343.4 42.5 40.1 39.0 39.9 41.4 AV Garnet 43.9 39.9 43.4 41.8 41.5 39.136.5 36.4 40.2 AV Jade 41.7 40.2 42.6 42.2 42.5 38.6 37.5 39.4 40.6 AVZircon 44.0 40.6 43.6 42.1 41.5 39.8 36.9 38.8 40.9 Monola 515TT 42.240.1 42.3 42.1 42.2 38.8 38.1 39.3 40.6 NS-B50027-4 38.7 36.1 39.3 38.237.3 36.5 34.2 35.1 36.9 B0050-027-18-36-13 36.7 34.3 37.2 37.9 36.834.3 33.4 33.2 35.5 B-050-27-18-105-13 36.3 34.4 37.9 37.4 35.8 34.132.1 33.0 35.1 Min Cultivar Value 41.4 39.7 42.3 41.8 41.1 38.6 36.536.4 40.2 NS-B50027-4 38.7 36.1 39.3 38.2 37.3 36.5 34.2 35.1 36.9 MaxCultivar Value 44.0 41.0 43.9 43.4 42.6 41.8 39.1 39.9 41.7 Mean 40.838.7 41.5 41.2 39.8 38.01 37 37.8 VAR 0.13 0.09 0.23 0.13 0.13 0.19 0.180.1 SE 0.36 0.3 0.477 0.36 0.36 0.42 0.43 0.31 LSD 0.71 0.59 1 0.7 0.730.85 0.85 0.62 CV % 1 0.8 1.2 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.2 0.8

Additional analysis of the fatty acid content of NS-B50027-4 seed ispresented in Table 9:

TABLE 9 Detailed fatty acid content data for NS-B50027-4 seedNS-B50027-4, Generation T7, Summer 2015-2016 GLA ALA SDA C14:0 C16:0C16:1n7c C18:0 C18:1n9c C18:1n7c C18:2n6c C18:3n6 C18:3n3 C20:0 C18:4n3C20:1n9c 1* 0.05 4.33 0.24 2.16 38.83 4.26 7.81 0.58 21.54 0.64 2.201.31 2 0.05 4.28 0.23 2.19 38.32 4.17 7.76 0.59 21.58 0.65 2.21 1.31 30.05 4.20 0.22 2.19 38.77 4.06 7.81 0.60 21.73 0.66 2.22 1.28 4 0.054.19 0.21 2.16 38.69 4.09 7.79 0.61 21.66 0.63 2.25 1.34 5 0.05 4.260.21 2.18 38.35 4.22 7.81 0.59 21.78 0.64 2.25 1.29 0.05 4.25 0.22 2.1838.69 4.16 7.80 0.60 21.66 0.64 2.23 1.30 NS-B50027-4, Generation T6,Winter 2015 1 0.0 4.60 0.21 2.22 41.95 3.10 6.35 0.47 21.06 0.69 2.271.14 2 0.0 5.00 0.25 2.01 36.02 3.50 6.70 0.66 21.46 0.66 3.21 1.10 30.09 4.67 0.24 2.32 34.45 3.41 6.33 0.60 22.53 0.71 3.35 1.01 4 0.0 4.570.20 2.01 34.27 3.08 6.47 0.59 23.14 0.65 3.24 1.08 5 0.0 5.08 0.30 2.2236.51 3.99 6.55 0.57 21.59 0.72 3.41 1.06 0.02 4.78 0.24 2.15 36.64 3.426.48 0.58 21.95 0.69 3.10 1.08 NS-B50027-4, Generation T5, Summer2014-2015 1 0.05 4.51 0.21 2.05 39.18 4.10 8.67 0.66 21.93 0.60 1.861.38 NS-B50027-4, Generation T4, Winter 2014 1 0.17 3.93 0.16 2.14 44.542.65 7.02 0.45 19.4 0.64 2.21 1.26 *Sample number DGLA ETE ETA EPA DPA6DPA3 DHA C21:0 C20:3n6 C20:3n3 C22:0 C20:4n3 C22:1n9c C20:5n3 C24:0C22:5n6 C24:1n9c C22:5n3 C22:6n3 1* 0 0 0.71 0.31 0 0 0.40 0.24 0.100.85 9.69 2 0 0 0.70 0.32 0 0 0.39 0.23 0.11 0.88 9.78 3 0 0 0.72 0.32 00 0.40 0.23 0.09 0.89 9.83 4 0 0 0.71 0.33 0 0 0.41 0.23 0.08 0.91 9.925 0 0 0.72 0.32 0 0.01 0.41 0.23 0.10 0.89 9.80 0 0 0.71 0.32 0 0 0.400.23 0.10 0.88 9.80 NS-B50027-4, Generation T6, Winter 2015 1 0 0 0.590.34 0 0 0.55 0 0.09 0 0.89 10.22 2 0 0 0.47 0.33 0 0 0.68 0 0.11 0.101.21 13.34 3 0 0 0.60 0.33 0 0 0.80 0 0 0.09 1.13 14.02 4 0 0 0.63 0.380 0 0.71 0.14 0.10 0.10 1.07 13.99 5 0 0 0.52 0.37 0 0 0.60 0.11 0 0.131.06 12.10 0 0 0.56 0.35 0 0 0.67 0.05 0.06 0.08 1.07 12.73 NS-B50027-4,Generation T5, Summer 2014-2015 1 0.14 0 0.83 0.33 0 0 0.32 0.8 0.160.13 0.71 8.43 NS-B50027-4, Generation T4, Winter 2014 1 0.07 0.46 0.261.09 0 0.41 0.85 8.89 *Sample number Sum of EPA Total Total Mono- TotalOil NMR DPA, DHA Total Ω3 Total Ω6 Ω3/Ω6 Saturated Fat unsaturated FatPUFA 1* 39.3 10.94 35.39 8.39 4.22 7.74 44.74 43.78 2 38.8 11.04 35.548.36 4.25 7.41 44.62 43.89 3 39.2 11.12 35.79 8.41 4.26 7.64 44.41 44.204 39.5 11.23 35.85 8.40 4.27 7.59 44.41 44.25 5 39.4 11.10 35.85 8.404.27 7.68 44.19 44.25 11.09 35.68 8.39 4.25 7.67 44.48 44.07NS-B50027-4, Generation T6, Winter 2015 1 11.66 35.58 6.91 5.15 7.8546.40 42.48 2 15.23 40.37 7.47 5.41 7.99 40.96 47.84 3 15.95 42.42 6.936.12 8.11 39.19 49.35 4 15.76 42.78 7.17 5.97 7.75 38.73 59.94 5 13.7539.27 7.12 5.52 8.49 41.98 46.38 14.47 40.08 7.12 5.63 8.04 41.45 47.20NS-B50027-4, Generation T5, Summer 2014-2015 1 9.46 34.09 9.49 3.59 7.7645.00 43.58 *Sample number

The data in Table 9 confirm that in addition to LC-0 fatty acids, theseed of NS-B50027-4 also contains substantially more ALA thanconventional canola varieties. See also Table 3. Although ALA is not aLC-PUFA, it is an ω3 fatty acid. The ratio of ω3:ω6 fatty acids in seedoil of NS-B50027-4 in Table 9 is about 3.59 to about 6.12; the ratio ofω3:ω6 fatty acids in conventional canola oil is about 0.5. See Pattersonet al., J. Nutr. Metab. 2012:539426 (2012).

Table 10 presents data related to percent DHA and LC-PUFA in seed fromsixteen generations of elite event NS-B50027-4 grown in experimentalcultivations in Australia. An additional field trial in Australiagenerated bulk seed with 9.6% DHA and 10.1% LC-PUFA:

TABLE 10 Seed DHA % and LC-PUFA % from elite event NS-B50027-4 pergeneration Year Seed Seed Generation Seed sample Environment GrowingSeason in Field Location DHA % LC-PUFA % 1 T1 Single plant GlasshouseControlled Environment A 5.7 6.0 2 T2 Single plant Glasshouse ControlledEnvironment A 9.5 10.1 3 T3 Single plant Glasshouse ControlledEnvironment A 12.6 13.1 4 T3-x Bulk Isolation Tent Winter/Spring 2014 B8.9 10.2 5 T3-2x Bulk Open Field Summer 2014-15 C 8.4 9.5 6 T3-3x BulkOpen Field Winter/Spring 2015 D 9.0 10.6 7 T4 Single plant GlasshouseControlled Environment A 11.9 13.2 8 T5 Single plant GlasshouseControlled Environment A 13.4 14.6 9 T5-x Bulk Isolation TentWinter/Spring 2015 B 12.7 14.5 10 T5-2x Bulk Open Field Summer 2015-16 C9.8 11.1 11 T5-3x Bulk Open Field Winter/Spring 2016 D 9.6 10.6 12 T6Single plant Glasshouse Controlled Environment A 12.9 14.4 13 T6-x BulkIsolation Tent Summer 2015-16 C 17.3 18.8 14 T6-2x Bulk Isolation TentWinter/Spring 2016 E 10.1 12.1 15 T7 Single plant Glasshouse ControlledEnvironment A 13.8 15.1 16 T7-x Bulk Isolation Tent Winter/Spring 2016 B12.5 14.1

Additionally, the ability of NS-B50027-4 to grow in Canada was testedunder controlled experimental conditions at two different sites in 2016.Table 11 presents agronomic and yield data comparing NS-B50027-4 withseveral non-transgenic canola lines:

TABLE 11 Agronomic measurement data for non-transgenic canola cultivarsand experimental transgenic test lines from two Canadian experimentalcultivations in 2016 Lodg- ing Har- Alter- Black- Plant Start End Flow-at vest naria leg Emer- Height of of ering Ma- Shat- Plant Symp- Resis-Plant Grain Grain gence at Flow- Flow- Dura- turity tered Count tomstance Vigor Mois- % Grain Trait: Plant Maturity ering ering tion ScoreSeed Plant Score Score Score ture Garnet Yield Line name per m² cm DayDay Days (1-9) No. per m² (1-9) (1-9) (1-9) % % t/ha ATR Bonito 23 90 4975 26 8 3 24 2 6 6 8 76 1.9 ATR Gem 22 98 48 76 27 7 2 23 3 6 6 8 79 2.0ATR 21 88 48 75 27 9 6 26 3 7 5 6 61 1.7 Stingray ATR Wahoo 22 98 48 7527 7 4 26 2 7 6 10 87 2.2 AV Garnet 27 110 48 76 28 6 7 23 3 7 6 8 1002.6 AV Jade 27 109 48 76 29 8 3 27 2 7 7 7 85 2.1 AV Zircon 14 125 50 7626 8 9 18 1 7 5 8 101 2.6 Monola 26 79 47 73 27 8 13 25 2 6 6 6 60 1.6515TT DK 7444 21 112 47 72 25 7 4 23 2 7 7 5 113 2.8 LL 130 18 123 47 7326 8 4 21 2 7 6 6 114 2.9 NS-B50027- 11 109 49 77 28 8 4 16 2 8 4 8 802.1 4 T3 NS-B50027- 16 111 49 76 27 8 2 18 2 8 6 9 82 2.3 4 T5 MinCultivar 14 79 47 72 25 6 2 18 1 6 5 5 60 1.7 Value NS-B50027- 14 110 4976 28 8 3 18 2 8 5 8 81 2.2 4 Max Cultivar 27 125 50 76 29 9 13 26 3 7 710 114 2.9 Value

Because canola line NS-B50027-4 is substantially homogeneous, it can bereproduced by planting seeds of such line, growing the resulting canolaplants under self-pollinating or sib-pollinating conditions withadequate isolation, and harvesting the resulting seed using conventionalagronomic practices.

Example 2 NS-B50027-4 Segregants

As noted above, NS-B50027-4 contains both a sixteen-gene insert (twoinverted eight-gene cassettes) and a four-gene insert; each insertrepresenting distinct loci within the plant genome. A combination ofcrossing, backcrossing, and self-crossing segregated the sixteen-geneinsert to chromosome A05 (“Segregant A05 Locus”), and the four-geneinsert to chromosome A02 (“Segregant A02 Locus”). Agronomic data forthese segregants was compared with NS-B50027-4 and non-transgeniccultivars grown in four different experimental sites in Australia. Asummary of the data is shown in Table 12, presenting mean values acrossthe four experiment sites (analysis REML; F pr<0.001 Sig for alltraits):

TABLE 12 Agronomic measurement data for non-transgenic canola cultivarsand experimental transgenic test lines across four environments in 2016Plant Height Start End Lodging Harvest at of of Flowering at ShatteredPlant Plant Trait: Emergence Emergence Maturity Flowering FloweringDuration Maturity Seed Count Vigor Line name Plant per m² Score (1-9) cmDay Day Days Score (1-9) No. Plant per m² Score (1-9) ATR Bonito 15.77.5 110.7 102.1 146.9 44.8 4.6 30.6 12.8 6.1 ATR Gem 17.7 7.6 115.4103.0 148.9 46.0 4.5 40.4 14.0 6.5 ATR Stingray 18.9 7.3 100.9 100.7147.2 46.5 3.4 74.6 15.4 5.4 ATR Wahoo 17.4 7.7 119.3 104.9 149.8 44.94.3 34.6 13.0 6.2 AV Garnet 18.8 7.7 126.9 101.7 148.5 46.7 4.8 41.813.9 7.1 AV Jade 17.2 7.7 117.6 100.0 147.9 47.9 4.9 50.9 16.1 7.4 AVZircon 14.3 7.4 119.8 102.7 147.3 44.6 4.8 71.4 12.5 7.2 Monola 515TT21.7 7.9 115.4 105.9 149.5 43.6 3.3 92.1 17.3 5.7 NS-B50027-4 T3 12.86.3 120.7 106.5 149.6 43.2 2.8 45.0 10.7 5.2 NS-B50027-4 T5 17.2 7.6111.3 106.5 149.2 43.1 1.8 40.2 12.9 5.9 Segregant A05 Locus 15.7 7.294.9 102.3 150.1 47.7 1.9 27.6 15.1 4.8 Segregant A02 Locus 16.5 7.7123.9 103.5 148.8 45.3 3.3 38.3 14.5 6.9 Min Cultivar Value 14.8 7.3100.9 100.0 146.9 43.6 3.3 30.6 12.5 5.4 NS-B50027-4 15.0 7.0 116.0106.2 149.4 43.2 2.3 40.4 11.8 5.6 Max Cultivar Value 21.7 7.9 126.9105.9 150.1 47.7 4.9 92.1 17.3 7.4

In addition to plant vigor and other agronomic features, grain yield(t/ha) was further characterized as shown in Table 13, in which percentoil was determined by NMR and AV Garnet was set as the 100% comparatorfor seed oil %:

TABLE 13 Grain yield (t/ha) and seed characterization data fornon-transgenic canola cultivars and experimental transgenic test linesacross four environments in 2016 Trait: Grain moisture Oil at 6% GrainYield at harvest Seed Oil moisture Line name: t/ha % % % ATR Bonito 3.468.3 86.8 46.8 ATR Gem 3.48 9.7 87.0 46.4 ATR Stingray 3.61 6.7 90.2 46.3ATR Wahoo 3.76 10.9 93.8 46.6 AV Garnet 4.00 8.0 100.0 45.8 AV Jade 3.906.8 97.8 47.5 AV Zircon 3.73 6.8 93.1 47.8 Monola 515TT 3.16 9.3 79.245.2 NS-B50027-4 T3 2.96 10.0 74.1 42.8 NS-B50027-4 T5 2.83 9.8 70.741.4 Segregant A05 3.10 11.6 77.1 42.2 Locus Segregant A02 4.21 10.0105.2 46.8 Locus Min Cultivar 3.26 6.8 79.2 45.2 Value NS-B50027-4 2.909.9 72.4 42.0 Max Cultivar 4.00 10.9 100.0 47.8 Value

The across-site mean DHA and LC-PUFA content for NS-B50027-4 T3 wasabout 6.2% DHA and about 7.1% LC-PUFA, and the across-site mean DHA andLC-PUFA content for NS-B50027-4 T5 was about 7.4% DHA and about 8.6%LC-PUFA, evidencing genetic gain from the T3 to the T5 generations.

Further regarding the Segregant A02 Locus, this transgenic line derivedfrom NS-B50027-4 comprises the following four transgenes: Δ6-desaturase(derived from M. pusilla), Δ5-elongase (derived from P. cordata),Δ5-desaturase (derived from P. salina), and Δ15/ω3-desaturase (derivedfrom P. pastoris). Although this line expressed seed oil, Segregant A02Locus lacks the enzymes required for production of LC-PUFA and DHA (seeFIG. 1). In particular, it lacks a Δ12-desaturase that provides an earlysubstrate, LA, a Δ6-elongase that converts SDA to ETA, and aΔ4-desaturase that converts DPA to DHA. As expected, a regulatory fieldtrial showed that Segregant A02 Locus produced less than 1% LC-PUFA(EPA+DPA+DHA). In comparison, Segregant A05 Locus contains the completesuite of DHA biosynthesis enzymes, and the regulatory field trial showedthat it produced about 4% DHA in about 4.5% LC-PUFA. Surprisingly, inthe same regulatory field trial, NS-B50027-4 produced about 7.4% DHA inabout 8.4% LC-PUFA (this trial experienced a non-optimal harvest). ThatNS-B50027-4 produced significantly more DHA than Segregant A05 Locus issurprising because, for example, Segregant A02 Locus does not provide anadditional Δ4-desaturase that converts DPA to DHA. Segregant A02 Locusprovides potential to improve yield.

Because the A02 and A05 loci can be segregated from NS-B50027-4 and usedfor further generation of NS-B50027-4 derived progeny. For example, asegregated A02 locus can be stacked in other LC-PUFA producing lines,such as a “Full Single” line comprising a single, seven-transgene insertfor biosynthesis of DHA to increase LC-PUFA production in that line.Indeed, seed from F4 homozygous progeny stacked by introgression of theA02 locus in a Full Single recipient exhibited a 6% increase in DHAcompared with the recipient Full Single line. Interestingly, these A02locus-containing homozygous progeny produced more DHA than an F4homozygous Full Single stacked with a segregated A05 locus. Note thatNS-B50027-4 produced more DHA than Full Single, and Full Single stackedwith NS-B50027-4 (both loci) also exhibited an increase in DHAproduction compared with Full Single.

The NS-B50027-4 A02 locus can also by introgressed into a recurrentBrassica or canola that produce other LC-PUFA, such as EPA or DPA, toincrease production of LC-PUFA in that Brassica or canola. For example,transgenic B. juncea that produces substantial amounts of DPA in seedhave been described. WO 2015089587. Introgression of the segregatedNS-B50027-4 A02 locus into this B. juncea increased the amount of DPAproduced in the seed. Similarly, Brassica transformed with thebiosynthetic pathway for EPA production (e.g., transgenic insert(s)including neither Δ5-elongase nor Δ4-desaturase) produce substantialamounts of EPA in seed; and production of EPA is increased byintrogressive hybridization with the A02 locus of NS-B50027-4.

Example 3 Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) Assay

The phenotypic expression of transgenes in canola is determined both bythe structure of the transgene cassette itself and by its insertlocation in the plant genome: the presence of transgenes at particularlocations in the plant genome may influence the expression of thetransgene and the overall phenotype of the plant. The incorporation of arecombinant DNA molecule in the plant genome typically results fromtransformation of a cell or tissue (or from another geneticmanipulation). The particular site(s) of incorporation may be a matterof chance or predetermined (if a process of targeted integration isused). The agronomically or industrially successful introduction of acommercially interesting trait in a plant by genetic manipulation can bea lengthy procedure dependent on different factors. The actualtransformation and regeneration of genetically transformed plants areonly the first in a series of selection steps, which include extensivegenetic characterization, breeding, and evaluation in field trials,eventually leading to the selection of an elite event.

NS-B50027-4 was developed following extensive selection breeding andfield trials, and provides a canola cultivar that produces at about7%-15% DHA (wt. % total fatty acid) in seed oil. Genetic analysisindicated that NS-B50027-4 had a transgenic insert on chromosome A02,and another transgenic insert on chromosome A05. The insert on A05comprises two complete T-DNA-bordered cassettes of eight genes(Micpu-Δ6D, Pyrco-Δ5E, Pavsa-Δ5D, Picpa-ω3D, Pavsa-Δ4D, Lackl-Δ12D,Pyrco-Δ6E, and a PAT marker) aligned head-to-head (RB-LB:LB-RB). Theinsert on chromosome A02 comprises of a set of four genes Micpu-A6D,Pyrco-Δ5E, Pavsa-Δ5D, and Picpa-ω3D. Surprisingly, segregation crossingshowed that the inserts on both chromosome A02 and chromosome A05 wererequired to achieve DHA production of about 11%.

About 1200 progeny from eight different BC and F2 populations of DHAcanola introgression breeding were used for DNA extraction based on LGCOctopure SOP developed in Nuseed Molecular Lab at Woodland. Briefly, twolyophilized leaf discs with diameter 0.25 inch were grounded in 300 μL,of DNA extraction buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, PH 8.0; 25 mM EDTA, PH 8.0;0.5% SDS, 1.5 M NaCl) at 1,400 rpm for 8 minutes with GenoGrinder. Afterincubation in 55° C. water bath for 45 minutes and centrifuge at 4,500rpm for 30 minutes, 50 μL of supernatant were transferred to 100 μL ofLGC binding buffer with magnetic sbeadex beads. After binding andwashing, the DNA was eluted to 80 μL of LGC DNA elution buffer.

DNA concentration was measured with NanoDrop 8000 (Thermo Scientific),and was in the range of 5.0-20.0 ng/μL with an average of 10.0 ng/μL.The DNA samples were diluted 1×. For each reaction, 2.0 μL (˜5.0 ng/μL)genomic DNA sample and 2 μL master mix with primers were dispensed to384-well plate for KASP genotyping.

In addition to the progeny from DHA canola introgression populations,eight controls were included in genotyping. These included two non-GMOcontrols (Dwarf and AV Jade), two hemizygous controls (2.5 ng Av Jade or2.5 ng Dwarf+2.5 ng B0050-027-18-20-12-19); two event positive controls(B0050-027-18-20-12-19), and four non-template controls (NTCs). Thepositive control (T5 plant B0050-027-18-20-12-19) was previously usedfor characterization of the DHA canola event through sequencing.

KASP assays were developed to provide simple, cost-effective, highthroughput, and flexible ways to detect and monitor the eight transgenesand the four NS-B50027-4- specific junctions, and to further facilitateNS-B50027-4 introgression in breeding programs. The KASP™ genotypingchemistry, assay design, genotyping, and scoring were performedaccording to the standard protocol of manufacturer (LGC Ltd., Middlesex,UK) with modifications.

Sequence information was uploaded into LGC Kraken Workflow Manager, andKASP assays were designed using its assay design program Primer Picker.A typical KASP assay includes two allele-specific primers (Primer_AlleleX for transgenic allele and Primer_Allele Y for non-transgenic, wildtypeallele) and one common locus-specific primer (Primer_Common).Primer_Allele X is associated with fluorescent FAM, and Primer_Allele Ywith fluorescent HEX.

Most of the assays targeting the junctions were this type ofthree-primer assays (Table 14). For detection of DHA canola, four-primerassays were also developed in addition to conventional three-primerassays mentioned above. The four-primer assays had transgenicallele-specific Primer_Allele X, wildtype allele-specific Primer_AlleleY, Omega 3 gene-specific Primer_Common and wildtype-specificPrimer_Common 2 in the reaction. For detection of the eight genes inOmega 3 cassette, only two primers, Primer_Allele X and Primer_Common,were used in each assay (two-primer assay); both primers were Omega 3gene-specific (Table 14):

TABLE 14Primer sequences of 28 KASP assays for detection and marker-assisted selection(MAS) of DHA canola ID Target Primer Name SEQ ID NOPrimer Sequence (5′-3′) NBN01 Micpu-Δ6D Primer_Allele X NO: 1GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTCCAAGCACCGTA GTAAGAGAGCA Primer_Common NO: 2GCTAAGAAGTGGGGACTCAACTACAA NBN02 Pyrco-Δ5E Primer_Allele X NO: 3GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCTCTTGCTGGA ACTCTTGG Primer_Common NO: 4GGGTTAGCCACATTGTAGGTAACGTA NBN03 Paysa-Δ5D Primer_Allele X NO: 5GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTAAGAGACACCC TGGTGGAAAGA Primer_Common NO: 6TAGCATCAGTTCCAACTTGGTAAGCAAT NBN04 Picpa-ω3D Primer_Allele X NO: 7GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGAACACGTAAGC AGACCAAGCAG Primer_Common NO: 8CCCTCTTCTCCCTAACGAATTCCTT NBN05 Pavsa-Δ4D Primer_Allele X NO: 9GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGAGGAACCTGTT GCTGCTGATGA Primer_Common NO: 10GCGATCCTAGCACAAAGTTGAAGGTA NBN06 Lack1-Δ12D Primer_Allele X NO: 11GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGGATGGATCGCT TACCTCTTCGT Primer_Common NO: 12CAGGGTAAGGTTGTCCTGTAACGTT NBN07 Pyrco-Δ6E Primer_Allele X NO: 13GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTCTATTGGATGGG GACTCAAGC Primer_Common NO: 14GGGAGATCCTTAGTAGCAGAAGAGAT NBN08 PAT Primer_Allele X NO: 15GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTCCTGAGAGGCGT CCTGTTGAAAT Primer_Common NO: 16AACAGCAGCCATATCAGCAGCAGTA NBN57 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 17GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCCTTCAGTTTA Junction of AACTATCAGTGTTTGAA02 Insert NO: 18 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTTCTGTATACA Primer_Allele YACTTGTCGTGCTAC Primer_Common NO: 19 GGGTTGTGTGAAAACGTGTGAGCAA NBN68Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 20 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTAAACTATCAGTGJunction of TTTGAACACCTC A02 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 21GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTACAACTTGTCGT GCTACACACCT Primer_Common NO: 22GACAAGTGAATCTGTTTGGGGTTG NBN58 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 23GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCCTTCAGTTTA Junction of AACTATCAGTGTTTGAA02 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 24 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTTCTGTATACAACTTGTCGTGCTAC Primer_Common NO: 25 GAAAACGTGTGAGCAATTGTTGGAGGT NBN85Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 26 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCCTTCAGTTTAJunction of AACTATCAGTGTTTGA A02 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 27GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTTCTGTATACA ACTTGTCGTGCTAC Primer_Common NO: 28GACAAGTGAATCTGTTTGGGGTTG NBN14 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 29GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTACAACTTGTCGT Junction of GCTACACACCT A02 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 30 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTAAACTATCAGTG TTTGAACACCTCCPrimer_Common NO: 31 GGTTGTGTGAAAACGTGTGAGC NBN15 UpstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 83 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTCTTTTAGCTAAA Junction ofTAAGAGGTTCTGTATACT A02 insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 84GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCTTTTAGCTAAA TAAGAGGTTCTGTATACA Primer_CommonNO: 85 GATTGTGATTCCGGGCAGT Primer_Common2 NO: 86 GTGTGAAAACGTGTGAGCAATNBN16 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 32GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTGTGAGCAATTG Junction of TTGGAGGT A02 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 33 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTTTGTGATTCCGG GCAGTAGPrimer_Common NO: 34 TCTTATCAACATTAAGAACATAATCTTTTAG NBN62 DownstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 35 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTTTAGCTAAATA Junction ofAGAGGTTCTGTATACT A02 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 36GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCTTTTAGCTAAA TAAGAGGTTCTGTATACA Primer_CommonNO: 37 CAGGGATTGTGATTCCGGGCAGTA Primer_Common2 NO: 38GTGTGAGCAATTGTTGGAGGTGTGTA NBN64 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 39GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTCCGGGCAGTAGT Junction of AATTAATAATATAGTATTAA02 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 40 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGGAGGTGTGTAGCACGACAAGTT Primer_Common NO: 41 CTCAAACTTCTTATCAACATTAAGAACATA NBN52Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 42 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCCTTCAGTTTAJunction of AACTATCAGTGTTTG A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 43GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCACGGTGGAGGT CACCATGT Primer_Common NO: 44CACGGAGATAGGCTGCATCTGAAT NBN51 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 45GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGCCTTCAGTTTA Junction of AACTATCAGTGTTTG A05 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 46 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCACGGTGGAGGT CACCATGTPrimer_Common NO: 47 GCTGCATCTGAATGACTGGTGTGTT NBN09 UpstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 48 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGTGTTCTTGGGT Junction ofGGGTCTGTCCTTA A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 49GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTTGTTCTTGGGTG GGTCTGTCCTTC Primer_Common NO: 50GTTGGCTAAGGTCACGGTGGAG Primer_Common2 NO: 51 ATCCACTAGCAGATTGTCGTTTCCCNBN50 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 52 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTCTTGGGTGGGTJunction of CTGTCCTTC A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 53GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTTCTTGGGTGG GTCTGTCCTTA Primer_Common NO: 54GATTGTCGTTTCCCGCCTTCAGTTT Primer_Common2 NO: 55 CGTTGGCTAAGGTCACGGTGGANBN48 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 56 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTCTTGGGTGGGTJunction of CTGTCCTTC A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 57GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTTCTTGGGTGG GTCTGTCCTTA Primer_Common NO: 58CCGCCTTCAGTTTAAACTATCAGTGTTT Primer_Common2 NO: 59CGTTGGCTAAGGTCACGGTGGA NBN10 Upstream Primer_Allele X NO: 60GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGGTCACGGTGGA Junction of GGTCACCA A05 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 61 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCCGCCTTCAGTT TAAACTATCAGTGTTPrimer_Common NO: 62 GGTGTGTTCTTGGGTGGGTCTG NBN83 DownstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 63 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTCAGTTTAAACT Junction ofATCAGTGTTACCT A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 64GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTACATGGTGACCT CCACCGTG Primer_Common NO: 65GTACTTTAAGCTTATAACCCTTTGTC NBN82 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 66GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGGAGATCCACTA Junction of GCAGATTGTCGTT A05 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 67 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTCTTGGGTGGGTC TGTCCTTACPrimer_Common NO: 68 GCAGGAGGTACTTTAAGCTTATA NBN84 DownstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 69 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGATTGTCGTTTC Junction ofCCGCCTTCAGTTT A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 70GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTCCTTACATGG TGACCTCCAC Primer_Common NO: 71GTACTTTAAGCTTATAACCCTTTGTC NBN66 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 72GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTGATTGTCGTTTC Junction of CCGCCTTCAGTTT A05 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 73 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTGTCCTTACATGG TGACCTCCACPrimer_Common NO: 74 GCAGGAGGTACTTTAAGCTTATA NBN41 DownstreamPrimer_Allele X NO: 75 GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTTTTTATTCAAC Junction ofCGTTGGCTAAGGTA A05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 76GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTTTTTATTCAACC GTTGGCTAAGGTC Primer_Common NO: 77GATTGTCGTTTCCCGCCTTCAGTTT Primer_Common2 NO: 78TTCTTGGGTGGGTCTGTCCTTACAT NBN43 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 79GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTTTTTTATTCAAC Junction of CGTTGGCTAAGGTA A05 InsertPrimer_Allele Y NO: 80 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTTTTTATTCAACC GTTGGCTAAGGTCPrimer_Common NO: 81 GGAGATCCACTAGCAGATTGTCGTT Primer_Common2 NO: 82TTCTTGGGTGGGTCTGTCCTTACAT NBN11 Downstream Primer_Allele X NO: 87GAAGGTGACCAAGTTCATGCTACTTTTTTTTCA Junction of ACTGTTGGCTAAGGTAA05 Insert Primer_Allele Y NO: 88 GAAGGTCGGAGTCAACGGATTACTTTTTTTTCAACTGTTGGCTAAGGTC Primer_Common NO: 89 GTGTGTTCTTGGGTGGGTCTGPrimer_Common2 NO: 90 GTCGTTTCCCGCCTTCAGTTT

The KASP genotyping system requires two components: the assay mix andthe master mix. The assay mix is a mixture of required primers, and themaster mix contains all other required components, including PCR buffer,the universal fluorescent reporting system, and Taq polymerase.

The KASP reaction was run in the volume of 4.0 μL, consisting 2.0 μL(10.0 ng) of genomic DNA, 2.0 μL of 2×KASP master mix, and 0.06 μL ofthe assay (primer) mix. The assay (primer) mix is a combination of 12 μMof allele-specific Primer_Allele X and 12 μM of Primer_Common fortwo-primer assays, a combination of 12 μM of allele-specificPrimer_Allele X, 12 μM of allele-specific Primer_Allele Y, and 30 μM ofPrimer_Common for three-primer assays, and a combination of 12 μM ofallele-specific Primer_Allele X, 12 μM of allele-specific Primer_AlleleY, 12 μM of Primer_Common and 12 μM of Primer_Common2 for four-primerassays.

The reactions were run in 384-well plate in LGC Hydrocycler 16 with thefollowing cycling parameters: 1 cycle of 94° C. for 15 min, followed byeight cycles of 94° C. for 30 sec and 64° C.−57° C. (drop 1.0° C. percycle) for 60 sec, and followed by thirty cycles of 94° C. for 30 secand 57° C. for 60 sec. If clear genotyping clusters have not beenobtained, the plate was further thermally cycled by three extra cyclesof 94° C. for 30 sec and 57° C. for 60 sec.

After the completion of KASP reactions, transgenic allele was labeledwith FAM through Primer_Allele X, and non-transgenic, wildtype allelewas label with HEX through Primer_Allele Y. The fluorescent signals wereread in a PheraStar microplate reader with an excitation wavelength of485 nm and an emission wavelength of 520 nm for FAM and 535 nm/556 nmfor HEX. Data were analyzed using LGC Kraken database.

Eight gene-specific, dominant (NBN01-NBN08; one assay/gene) weredeveloped for detection of eight genes in the construct cassette. Atotal of twenty insert-specific, co-dominant KASP assays, which targetedthe upstream (NBN57, NBN68, NBN58, NBN85 and NBN14) and downstream(NBN16, NBN62 and NBN64) junctions of the insert on A02, and theupstream (NBN52, NBN51, NBN09, NBN50, NBN48 and NBN10) and downstream(NBN83, NBN82, NBN84, NBN66, NBN41 and NBN43) junctions of insert onA05, were developed and validated with 1200 progeny from NS-B50027-4introgression populations (Table 14). Over 10,000 samples have beengenotyped with these markers.

Thirty Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assays were developed andvalidated, which target the eight genes and the four junctions of thetwo inserts of DHA canola event NS-B50027-4. These assays offered asimple, cost-effective, high throughput and flexible approach to detectand monitor NS-B50027-4 in a breeding program.

Example 4 Detailed Comparison of NS-B50027-4 and Non-Transgenic Canola

Data from canola seed production in experimental field plots from2014-2016 were tabulated. The range of DHA and total EPA+DPA+DHA werebased on several test field observations. Content of major fatty acidsin both NS-B50027-4 and non-transgenic “Control” canola may vary byseveral percentage points depending on growing conditions. In thefollowing Table 15, “0.0” may refer to a trace amount identified asbelow the amount needed to accurately determine the quantity of thecomponent:

TABLE 15 Detailed comparison of fatty acid content of NS-B50027-4 withcontrol Control NS-B50027-4 Canola Fatty acid (%) (%) Myristic C14:0 0.10.1 Palmitic C16:0 4.3 3.9 Palmitoleic C16.1 0.2 0.2 Stearic C18:0 2.21.6 Oleic C18:1n9c 38.7 63.6 Cis-vaccenic C18:1n7c 4.2 3.5 LinoleicC18:2n6c 7.8 13.1 GLA C18:3n6 0.6 0.0 ALA C18:3n3 21.7 10.3 ArachidicC20:0 0.6 0.6 SDA C18:4n3 2.2 0.0 Gondoic C20:1n9c 1.3 1.5 HeneicosanoicC21:0 0.0 0.0 DGLA C20:3n6 0.0 0.0 ETE C20:3n3 0.7 0.0 Behenic C22:0 0.30.3 ETA C20:4n3 0.0 0.0 Erucic C22:1n9c 0.0 0.0 EPA C20:5n3 0.4 0.0Lignoceric C24:0 0.2 0.1 DPA6 C22:5n6 0.0 0.0 Nervonic C24:1n9c 0.1 0.2DPA3 C22:5n3 0.9 0.0 DHA C22:6n3 9.8 (8-10) 0.0 Other 3.8 1.3 Sum: EPA +DPA + DHA 11.1 (10-12) 0.0 Total Omega 3 35.7 10.4 Total Omega 6 8.411.3 ω3/ω6 4.3 0.9 Total Saturated 7.7 6.7 Total Monounsaturated 44.568.9 Total Polyunsaturated 44.1 23.5

Seed harvested from experimental cultivation of NS-B50027-4 was crushedand oil obtained via cold-press. Seed harvested from the parentalisogenic line, AV Jade, was similarly processed, and the content of eachoil compared as shown in Table 16:

TABLE 16 NS-B50027-4 Oil Content Component (units) NS-B50027-4 AV JadeSaturated TAG (%) C4:0 Butyric <0.1 <0.1 C6:0 Caproic <0.1 <0.1 C8:0Caprylic <0.1 <0.1 C10:0 Capric <0.1 <0.1 C12:0 Lauric <0.1 <0.1 C14:0Myristic <0.1 <0.1 C15:0 Pentadecanoic <0.1 <0.1 C16:0 Palmitic 4.3 3.9C17:0 Margaric <0.1 <0.1 C18:0 Stearic 2.9 2.5 C20:0 Arachidic 0.8 0.5C22:0 Behenic 0.4 0.2 C24:0 Lignoceric 0.1 0.1 Total Saturated 8.7 7.3Mono-unsaturated TAG (%) C14:1 Myristoleic <0.1 <0.1 C16:1 Palmitoleic0.2 0.1 C17:1 Heptadecenoic <0.1 <0.1 C18:1 Oleic 44.9 58.8 C20:1Eicosenic 1.3 1.0 C22:1 Docosenoic <0.1 <0.1 C24:1 Nervonic <0.1 <0.1PUFA TAG (%) C18:2ω6 Linoleic 7.6 18.9 C18:3ω6 gamma-Linolenic 0.5 <0.1C18:3ω3 alpha-Linolenic 20.9 10.5 C20:2ω6 Eicosadienoic <0.1 <0.1C20:3ω6 Eicosatrienoic <0.1 <0.1 C20:3ω3 Eicosatrienoic 0.6 <0.1 C20:4ω6Arachidonic <0.1 <0.1 C20:5ω3 Eicosapentaenoic 0.4 <0.1 C22:2ω6Docosadienoic <0.1 <0.1 C22:4ω6 Docosatetraenoic <0.1 <0.1 C22:5ω3Docosapentaenoic 1.0 <0.1 C22:6ω3 Docosahexaenoic 9.4 0.2 Total PUFA (%)40.6 29.9 Total Mono Trans Fatty Acids 0.1 0.2 Total Poly Trans FattyAcids 0.8 0.2 P:M:S Ratio 4.7:5.4:1 4.1:8.2:1 PUFA (%) Omega 3 FattyAcids 32.3 10.9 Omega 6 Fatty Acids 8.2 19.0 ω3:ω6 3.94 0.57 Vitaminsbeta-Carotene (μg/100 g) 110 82 alpha-tocopherol (mg/100 g) 19 15beta-tocopherol (mg/100 g) <0.1 <0.1 delta-tocopherol (mg/100 g) 0.6 0.8gamma-tocopherol (mg/100 g) 43 42 Astaxanthin (mg/kg) <0.05 <0.05Vitamin K1 (μg/100 g) 17 15 Phytosterols (mg/100 g) Cholesterol <5.0<5.0 Brassicasterol 29 67 Campesterol 250 170 Campestanol <5.0 <5.0Stigmasterol <5.0 <5.0 beta-Sitosterol 370 320 beta-Sitostanol 34 27Total Phytosterol 690 600

In accordance with the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognitionof the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure(1977), Applicants made a deposit of at least 2500 seeds of CanolaNS-B50027-4 with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC®), Manassas,Va., 20110-2209, U.S.A., on Jun. 9, 2016, which has been assignedAccession Number PTA-123186. During pendency of this application, accessto the invention may be afforded to the Commissioner of the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office by request; all restrictions uponavailability to the public are irrevocably revoked upon granting of thepatent; the deposit of line NS-B50027-4 will be maintained in the ATCC®depository, which is a public depository, for a period of 30 years, or 5years after the most recent seed request, or for the effective life ofthe patent, whichever is longer; and seed will be replaced with viableseed if deposited seed becomes nonviable during that period. Theviability of the seeds was tested at the time of deposit. Appendix Asubmitted herewith provides deposit date, Accession Number, andacknowledgement of viability. Applicants have satisfied all therequirements of 37 C.F.R. § § 1.801-1.809. Applicants impose norestrictions on the availability of the deposited material from theATCC®; however, Applicant has no authority to waive any restrictionsimposed by law on the transfer of biological material or itstransportation in commerce. Applicant does not waive any infringement ofits rights as granted under a patent issued from this application orunder the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C. § 2321 et seq.).

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity andunderstanding, it will be clear to one of skill in the art that certainchanges and modifications, such as single gene modifications andmutations, somoclonal variants, variant individuals selected from largepopulations of the plants of the instant inbred line, and the like, maybe practiced within the scope of the invention which is limited solelyby the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A segregant of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4, representative seed of said inbred canola line having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-123186, wherein said NS-B50027-4 contains within its genome: a first transgenic locus comprising one copy of each of a M. pusilla Δ6-desaturase, a P. cordata Δ5-elongase, a P. salina Δ5-desaturase, and a P. pastoris Δ15/ω3-desaturase gene, a second transgenic locus comprising two copies of each of a Micromonas pusilla Δ6-desaturase, a Pyramimonas cordata Δ5-elongase, a Pavlova salina Δ5-desaturase, a Pichia pastoris Δ15/ω3-desaturase, a Pavlova salina Δ4-desaturase, a Lachancea kluyveri Δ12-desaturase, and a P. cordata Δ6-elongase gene; wherein said first transgenic locus is located on a first chromosome, and said second transgenic locus is located on a second chromosome; and wherein said segregant comprises either said first transgenic locus or said second transgenic locus.
 2. A canola plant, or part thereof, comprising the genome of the segregant of claim
 1. 3. The canola plant, or part thereof, of claim 2, wherein said part is at least one of seed, leaf, pollen, embryo, root, root tip, pod, flower, ovule, stalk, cell, protoplast, cotyledon, half-cotyledon, hypocotyl, radicle, cell culture, tissue culture, or gamete.
 4. A method of producing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the seed of a plant comprising cultivating a plant comprising the first transgenic locus and/or the second transgenic locus of claim 1, wherein transgenes of said locus or loci are expressed in the seed of said plant.
 5. The seed of the plant cultivated as in claim
 4. 6. The segregant of claim 1, wherein said segregant comprises said second transgenic locus.
 7. A method of increasing production of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in Brassica that produces long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) comprising the steps of obtaining a segregant of claim 1 comprising said first transgenic locus, and introgressing the segregant with a recipient Brassica that comprises LC-PUFA biosynthesis genes to obtain introgressed progeny Brassica that contain both recipient LC-PUFA biosynthesis genes and said first transgenic locus, wherein said introgressed Brassica progeny produces increased LC-PUFA.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the Brassica is B. juncea or B. napus.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the LC-PUFA comprises more docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) than docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
 10. A method for obtaining a canola inbred line comprising: (a) producing a hybrid plant by crossing (i) a first plant grown from seed of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4, representative seed of said inbred canola line having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-123186, wherein said NS-B50027-4 contains within its genome (1) a first transgenic locus comprising one copy of each of a M. pusilla Δ6-desaturase, a P. cordata Δ5-elongase, a P. salina Δ5-desaturase, and a P. pastoris Δ15/ω3-desaturase gene, and (2) a second transgenic locus comprising two copies of each of a Micromonas pusilla Δ6-desaturase, a Pyramimonas cordata Δ5-elongase, a Pavlova salina Δ5-desaturase, a Pichia pastoris Δ15/ω3-desaturase, a Pavlova salina Δ4-desaturase, a Lachancea kluyveri Δ12-desaturase, and a P. cordata Δ6-elongase gene, wherein said first transgenic locus is located on a first chromosome and said second transgenic locus is located on a second chromosome, with (ii) a plant of a second canola line, wherein said hybrid plant comprises at least one transgenic locus of NS-B50027-4; (b) crossing said hybrid with a plant of said second canola line; and (c) repeating step (b) at least once to obtain said canola inbred line, wherein said canola inbred line comprises at least one of said transgenic loci.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said inbred canola line has both transgenic loci of inbred canola line NS-B50027-4.
 12. A canola inbred line produced by the method of claim 10, wherein said canola inbred line comprises at least one trait selected from herbicide resistance, insect resistance, bacterial disease resistance, fungal disease resistance, viral disease resistance, or sterility.
 13. A method of making docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-containing canola oil comprising the steps of: (a) introgressing the DHA trait of NS-B50027-4, deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-123186, into an elite Brassica line that is male sterile; (b) introgressing the DHA trait of NS-B50027-4 into a second elite Brassica line that is fertile; (c) crossing the two lines (a) and (b) to obtain a hybrid progeny; (d) cultivating the seed of the hybrid progeny; (e) harvesting the grain produced by the cultivated hybrid progeny; and (f) extracting the oil from the progeny of the hybrid seed.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the hybrid progeny further comprises at least one trait selected from herbicide resistance, insect resistance, bacterial disease resistance, fungal disease resistance, viral disease resistance, or sterility. 